Best Workout Ever
by AetherPaw
Summary: You know those times where you look at a game and say to yourself "If it was me in there, I would do it better"? Don't do that, that is what we call 'tempting Fate', and it will never end well.
1. The Asylum

I obviously don't own Dark Souls. If I did, I'd probably be working on the game instead of writing this.

Please don't sue.

Edit: Minor Revisions, and a few lines to set a few things up in chapter 2. Most of it is just formatting though.

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><p>You know those times when you look at a fictional universe and say 'Damn, those guys were idiots, I could do so much better in their place"? Yeah, don't do that. There is a term for that. It's called 'tempting fate'. I learned that the hard way that if you do so, it will kick your ass, kill you, then arrange for it to happen again.<p>

It all started when I was musing out loud to myself, over a game. "Huh. Why do I have to -Kill- The boss? I got no beef with Quelaag, and in all honesty I'm going to feel guilty for it later when I find her sister." I said, "While just going into a boss fight works in some cases, while dealing with something sapient you should be able to talk to it. Try to get your quest done with a little tact. Would it have been that hard to change the question menu thing to give you a few more answers other than yes or no?" Yeah, that's me, going off with my bleeding heart. Then next line is the kicker though. "In this guy's position I'd just spend a bit of time rolling around, asking questions and maybe seeing if there was another way. I mean stamina regenerates pretty fast."

I'm sorry; I was too busy with my hysterical laughing to comment there. Why yes, I did assume that if I was really there, I'd be able to fall back on game mechanics. Probably because it's just a game, people don't just get dropped into fictional worlds. It just can't happen.

Take it from me. When the game hands you a giant flaming spider… woman… thing to kill, just kill it. Don't make stupid fate tempting commentary. It probably won't end well.

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><p>Seriously, this waiting was getting tedious, not to mention dangerous to my health.<p>

First a week went by after I woke up in this damned cell without a clue as to how I got here. During that week I went through several mental breakdowns. The first was as soon as I woke up, and found myself in a ruin of a cell. The second came in after the first day went by and no one showed up to let me out, proving in my mind that this wasn't just a cruel joke. The third was on the second morning, and I realized 'Oh hell, this isn't just a cruel joke' and I was wishing rather hard for my mp3 player, or any musical device that I could use to calm down. Calling up earworms just wasn't the same.

Then a zombie peeked in on me. I had my fourth once I recognized the shambling glowing eyed corpse that was staring at me through the bars as a hollow from dark souls. Yeah, that took a while to calm down from… only to have another one once I realized that zombies don't eat food, and I didn't happen to have a Darksign anywhere on me, so starving to death was a very real danger.

Keeping a 'Breakdown count' I was at five before the sun came up fully on the second day. About day four I was finally able to pull myself together enough to scrounge for food. Then that number jumped to six before I could bring myself to eat it.

Desperate times….

I found some helpful mosses growing in my cell that got me through a couple of days, then I discovered that a bit of the wood off my bed –and I use that term lightly- could be coaxed into a small fire suitable for cooking the unlucky rats I managed to kill with a broken sword I discovered. It could be possible that the flint stones I found were brought in by the last occupant, not that the desiccated corpse lying with the absolute stillness I had come to associate with true death had any use for them anymore. That left me with a few days food to keep my strength up, and the steady dribbling of water coming off my roof ensured my needs of water were met. Of course, the little wood and cloth I had couldn't hold out forever, and I was hesitant to start burning my clothes. The nights got chilly, and I was already regretting the use of the blanket as tinder. Days turned into a week, then two, then three.

That brings me to the present I guess. No food, as the rats have wised up, no fire materials, and no fucking clue how I survived eating that-

A shadow passed over the hole in the roof and I briefly saw an armoured figure before a body blocked my view, tumbling down onto the floor of my cell. Shit. If I remember the game right…

I rummaged the tattered rags of the dead hollow, and sure enough, I found a key. Further testing proved that it was indeed the one to my cell –and probably every other cell in this block- as my door swung obediently open. A hollow stared at me, but otherwise didn't react. I was somewhat relieved at that. Maybe it was just used to me by this point? Checking the hall revealed the stray demon glaring balefully at me as it sat in the center of its massive room.

"Right…" I heard my voice, raspy from disuse; croak out to the hulking monster "If I want out'a here I need t' think of how t' deal with yer little brother." Inwardly I winced. Mutilation of the English language aside, the asylum demon really was a problem I needed to deal with. If not now then fairly soon.

The monster rushed the bars in reply, causing small cracks to appear in the wall they were attached too.

Needless to say, I bugged the hell out. Though in my defense, I didn't piss myself as I no doubt would've had I had this happened to me three weeks ago. I guess just under a month of interacting with nothing but rats, moss, and withered corpses will toughen a guy up psychologically.

Right, that whole tempting fate thing.

After bolting up the stairs like a started rabbit, I paused to catch my breath.

The room was filled with water, save for the quarter I was standing on, and except for the sputtering torch behind me was unlit. The water didn't look that deep though, mostly ankle deep, with it being about to my knees at the deepest. That last guess was based on where it came to on the hollow crouched in the water staring at me with blank, glowing eye sockets.

"Shut the hell up." I rasped at it, "You would've run too."

It either didn't understand me (rather likely) or it just couldn't speak, as it simply continued to stare at me. This admittedly, was fine by me. With the way the muscle on these guys had atrophied I was fairly certain in my ability to eliminate them if need be. Especially with this crappy broken sword.

"That's right." I muttered.

I striped off my shoes and socks, and then rolled up my pants. I didn't know how long it would be until I could find new shoes, so if possible I would rather keep these ones dry. After that I proceeded to, and through the only other exit in the room. This brought me to another room with a ladder.

Well fuck. With one hand occupied by my footwear, and one hand occupied by my sword, this was going to be a problem. You know what, screw the crappy sword. I hadn't needed to fight yet, and if I had my way I wouldn't need to for a while yet.

Up the ladder, then mincingly across the mildly damaged floor, I finally found my way to my first objective, the first bonfire.

"Light" I thrust my hand at it. No response. "Burn" Nothing. "Ignite?"

Screw you bonfire. The flint didn't work either.

Still though, this was a fairly safe area and I really did need to get an actual game plan going. Dying wasn't on the agenda, and no little burning… ring… mark somewhere on my body meant that taking a dirt nap would be more than simply inconvenient.

"Alright." A nearby stick served as a suitable drawing implement. "First, I need my plan for the encounter through the door. Easy. Run like hell to the door on the left side of the room." I grimaced "The asylum demon is way out of my league, if possible I need to get around it." There was just no way I could take that thing, even with a good weapon, and better shield. Hell, even if I had good armour (which I don't) that I could actually move in, I'd be screwed.

"Second, the rest of the asylum." It occurred to me that it was possible that the other denizens would be as friendly as the ones I had already met, which I discounted immediately. "I can't assume that. Doing so will get me killed." So, get a weapon after the big guy. Vaguely I hoped that my memories of a weapon and shield ahead would prove accurate. "They seem to be pretty dumb though, I could work that to my advantage and loot whatever lay ahead has."

My complete lack of support -and stuff- made things much more difficult. I made a mental note to loot a rope at the earliest possible convenience. If I had one, I could just rappel down the wall of the asylum, and walk away. No need to deal with the demon more than once. Although, that rope plan may still prove to be a viable plan depending on what I find.

Any other plans would need to wait until Firelink Shrine.

I looked around the area I was in. It almost looked like it may have once been an internal leisure park or perhaps an exercise field for the inhabitants. Now that I was out of my cell, my guess was that in better times this place may have been significantly more pleasant that at its present state.

Unfortunately there was nothing particularly useful. Just some sparse grass and a thin patina of snow that was considerably sparser in the center where the surprisingly warm sun managed to reach. The place was a ruined mess too, with bricks of the wall scattered about. I did make note to grab a brick before I left however. A two kilogram rock would be a much better weapon then a bare fist.

A bit more searching around turned up a rusty iron door. No catch on my side, and I didn't see a lock on it. Since it wasn't swinging open, that meant that it had a latch on it someplace. The bars were spaced with some distance apart though, and after sliding my arm through it was a few seconds work to find and pop the lever open.

Maybe I wouldn't need to get splattered by the demon after all.

I paused, and listened to the sounds. A bass deep tremble occurring after brief intervals was the first thing I noticed. Just like footsteps. My guess was that it was either the Stray Demon below, or the Asylum Demon above. The next things I noticed were a rasping breath, and faint mutters.

I frowned. Hollows didn't mutter. They hissed when they were annoyed, and made a pathetic attempt at a roar when enraged. That rasping breath was pretty typical though. Further listening confirmed that the sounds were coming from two different places. The muttering was somewhere up the stairs but more forward, and the breath was-

I looked up, and briefly saw two glowing sparks above. They vanished in a moment, and immediately after I heard the sound of metal grinding on stone. Then things started to go downhill.

I heard a huge impact, and my eyes flashed to the top of the stairs. Rocks and bits of debris were falling from the wall up top. Then a hissing rattle and the hollow I had seen jumped down onto my set of stairs. There was no mistaking that glint in the dark for anything but metal. My throat tightened. I was going to be killed by an emaciated zombie. All of my supposed cleverness, my shitty plans, and foreknowledge of what would hopefully be, were about to be for naught.

The hollow took a step forward, a rictus grin on its face as if it knew how royally screwed I was. I stumbled back, and felt my back impact against the rusty door I had just opened. My killer lunged, and I hurled myself out into the courtyard, trying to slam the door shut as I went. It worked.

I knew I didn't have long, maybe five seconds while it figured out that it needed to pull instead of push, but five seconds is all I needed to get clear of the door, and grab a brick. As I turned around I heard the shriek of the hinges. The Hollow ran at me and lunged, sword high and what I could only guess was soulless triumph it its eyes, a light I might add that went out when the brick shattered over its head.

As it fell, my right hand lashed out and grabbed its sword wrist, while my left forced its hand down to a ninety degree angle. The broken sword dropped. I then shifted my grip, then my weight, turning so my back was against its chest. Still gripping its right hand with my left, I hooked its shoulder with my right and heaved. The shoulder throw was shoddy, and no doubt that my uncle would have chastised me for trying it. The hollow however, was a retarded zombie that had probably never dealt with judo (however limited and crappy) even when it was alive. Not that it would have mattered as it was still reeling from my brick. As it impacted the ground, I dropped to one knee and picked up its sword then plunged it into the hollows throat.

I couldn't keep a certain victory fanfare from going off in my head. I began to chuckle, then laugh in earnest. In that laughter was relief and the heady feeling of survival. I had bested my first real opponent. I won. I was alive, and now? Now I was on top of the world.

Still those mutters to deal with however, and my memory stirred as to who might be making them. If I was right, I might just have a chance at getting out. If I was wrong? Well now I was armed, so my chances were better than they were before I dropped the hollow. At that grim thought, my laughter ceased.

"Damn it" I murmured to myself "I'd probably've have a better chance in 40k"

New crappy weapon in hand, I once more traveled through that forsaken rusted door. Taking stock of the noises again (hey it saved my life once) I heard nothing beyond the mutters. Encouraged I climbed the staircase, and popped my head through the newly made hole in the wall. I say a man in armor lying on a pile of rubble.

Looks like I was right. I had to suppress a girly squeal at what that meant for my chances of getting through this alive.

As I approached, the knight's head turned to me. "You're no hollow." A pained chuckle "That is a relief. I'm done for I'm-"

"Bullshit" Paragon interrupt, bitch. Time to save your hide, so you can get mine to safety. "I'm no undead, but I know that bonfires produce estus that you guys use to heal." I knelt next to him, the looped his arm around my neck. One solid heave later, and we were both standing "And wouldn't you know it? There happens to be a bonfire just down a set of stairs." I started walking "Convenient, eh?"

"Y-yes." His voice was shaken "Is it lit?"

"No, but I'm going to place my bets that you can light it" A terrifying thought struck me. What if he couldn't? That meant then when he hollowed, I'd need to deal with a fresh and somewhat smarter zombie. One whom was really damn heavy. "Please tell me you can light it…"

He nodded "I can, but it won't be as effective as one with a fire keeper" I nodded myself, rather relived.

The walk back down the stairs was painful, and it felt like ages. It was also uneventful; thank whatever kind deity was left in this crapsack world.

Bonfire lit, I bemusedly watched the healing energies- estus I corrected myself mentally- swirl about, and infuse my new companion. My own aches and pains were left unattended however, and my own mortality left an itching between my shoulder blades.

"So." I began "Fate of the undead. 'He who is undead, travel to Lordran and ring the bell of awakening'. Right?"

He twitched "You know?" It was seriously a pain in the ass not being able to see his face. "I thought that legend was passed down through my line alone."

"I'm something of a scholar." I said shortly "I know quite a few legends, and a good deal of the geography of Lordran."

"Legends?"

I grinned inwardly after too many times listening to the prologue it was child's play to recite it.

"' _In the Age of Ancients,The world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of grey crags, archtrees, and everlasting dragons  
>But then there was Fire. And with Fire came Disparity. Heat and cold, life and death, and of course... Light and Dark.<br>Then, from the Dark, They came, and found the Souls of Lords within the flame.  
>Nito, the First of the Dead. The Witch of Izalith, and her daughters of Chaos. Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, and his faithful knights. And the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten.<br>With the Strength of Lords, they challenged the dragons.  
>Gwyn's mighty bolts peeled apart their stone scales. The witches weaved great firestorms. Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease.<br>And Seath the Scaleless betrayed his own, and the dragons were no more. Thus began the Age of Fire_.'"

A long silence stretched out between us, and a moment of panic ripped through me as it occurred to me that I may have overplayed my hand.

"That" The knight said slowly "Is the first time I heard of that particular version." He tapped his knee "The usual version has Nito, Gwyn, and the Witch springing forth from the flame, rather than the dark, and Gwyn destroyed the dragons on his own." A pause. "The Witch birthed demons, and Nito brought death into the world. Those two aren't usually considered on the side of good." My guess was that he then frowned. "And I have never heard of this 'furtive pygmy'…"

Shit. It was beginning to occur to me that my meta knowledge might be getting me into trouble. In fact I should probably take pains to avoid revealing much of what I know. Well I was just about hooped for this instance. Still though, I hadn't revealed my full hand. People knowing about my jack wouldn't be so bad either, it's just when they figure out I've got a royal flush I'll be screwed.

Still… I could salvage this. "I'm not surprised. That is the only text that so much as mentions a fourth lord." I allowed myself a chuckle that sounded fairly fake to me, but hopefully would be taken as the genuine thing by him. "Maybe he just didn't do anything of note?"

"Perhaps." He sounded satisfied, but I wasn't too sure. "Still, this conjecture isn't helping us. Any knowledge you have of Lordran might, if we can get there." His voice softened "I'm in your debt stranger."

"I'm not much of a fighter. Get me out of here, and I'll consider anything you owe me repaid." Well, no, but it sounded good, and there were places of relative safety in Lordran, so if he bailed on me I might still have a shot at finding some nook to hide in.

"Yes." Another nod, "Though, it might be wise to get you equipped with something better then you are now." His voice took a sadder tone "I believe I know where we can find such equipment as well."

We made our way back up the stairs, my cohort leading the way. Noting that there was no hollow waiting at the top of the second flight, I made a mental note to be wary of the one I dispatched near our bonfire. Once more thing I had to remind myself that the game mechanic of 'all enemies except bosses (and certain mini bosses) re-spawn when a bonfire was used' was likely just that; a mechanic of a game. That thought didn't comfort me. In fact? It made the spot between my shoulder blades itch worse. Predictable enemy locations were one thing, as was knowing when they would be back. My current situation meant that everything I killed that had a darksign would re-animate at an unspecified point in the future, regardless of where I was, or where it fell. I wanted to break down and cry, but at this point I couldn't afford to undermine what Oscar thought of me.

Ah, yes. Our introductions had been brief, with him giving a bit of his reason of being here, which I didn't really pay attention to. I had more important things to focus on, notably my own back-story. I could hardly tell him truthfully about myself, and different places have different naming conventions. My name, though not unusual for my universe, would be rather peculiar here. I cooked up a bit of a sob story of how I was either abandoned, or orphaned shortly after birth and was bounced around between caravans. My arrival at the undead asylum was a result of an Undead being discovered in our midst at the authorities of the town we were restocking in, and had all of us sent there in fear we were all cursed. Nobody in the caravan had cared to come up with a name for me, and just called me 'Boy' or 'Nuisance'. He seemed to buy-

Right. Current situation. Digressing just a bit much. I halted him at the top of the first flight, and made a hushing gesture. Briefly listening, I heard a rasping echo. That reminded me of the bow hallow in the hallway after the first encounter with the Asylum Demon. It was possible that that was where we were going, and after a bit of rather quiet inquiry, he confirmed it.

"Down that hallway," he whispered. "One of the others I was traveling with…" his voice cracked slightly.

"You need a minute?" it came out a bit drier then I had intended, and I hoped he missed it.

His baleful glare (Seriously, I could feel It.) told me otherwise. "No," he said shortly, "and despite my debt to you, you would do well not to speak lightly of my loss."

I nodded "Duly noted." I paused "Yet you would do well not to grieve in a combat zone." A thought struck me "I suspect, however, that you could tell me the dangers of that far better than I could speculate…" if I was right, the grieving is what got is ass borderline killed.

He started, then sighed "You 're right, Gwyn knows I wish you weren't." his next words were a bit more rueful "Your offense was just to break me out of that slump, wasn't it."

It wasn't, it was just me being a prick, but I nodded sagely. "Sometimes callousness can be kinder than tact."

After that I left him in the chamber briefly. Just long enough for me to creep up behind a certain bow wielding walking corpse without his armour jingling in warning.

"go'cha" I growled at it.

I snaked my hand under its armpit, and grabbed the back of its head. The thing struggled like it was possessed (which it kinda was) and I realized that perhaps my debilitation from living off rats and moss was likely worse than I had thought as it was. Still, I had enough time to stab that broken sword through it several times which then caused the struggles to stop.

Ok, dead zombie, "It's dead," I called back. "I snuck up on the hollow without a hitch." A few seconds later, Oscar came jingling in.

"My sword brother is over there" he gestured towards where I vaguely remembered where you picked up you class shield in game.

Saying it wasn't a pretty sight, would be like saying the sun is hot. Correct as far as things go, but a woefully sad understatement.

The first arrow went into the side of the knee, probably crippling him for the rest of his incredibly short life. Another dozen or so littered the ground, and the plate parts of the armour were somewhat dented. The killing blow was either one of two things. Either it was one of the four arrows that were shot at point blank range into the helmet (it would have to be point blank to pierce plate) embedding themselves deep into poor bastards head, or it was the heavy impact that smashed the torso of the man flat.

Grizzly as it was however, the armor; identical to what Oscar was wearing, was doing fairly alright. It could use a blacksmith, but in the meantime it was much better than cotton, polar fleece, and the denim shell of my pants.

"While… while I divest my former comrade of his armour, could you take some time and look around?" He asked. "Take some time… I would-" he took a moment to steady himself, "I would like to give him a brief benediction."

I nodded. "Do what you have to do, just keep an ear open." I looked at the wrecked body "I don't think a bonfire could bring -anybody- back from that."

"Indeed." He murmured grimly. "I'll pay attention"

Satisfied that he was going to be careful; I traveled back into the 'stair room' as I had begun to think of it, and began my search. Rocks, a few chains well and truly stuck to the wall, that big ass metal ball that busted a hole in the side of the room I found Oscar in, and a broken staircase that couldn't be climbed in game. This was no game however, and I was able to crawl my way up it with some difficulty.

"Shit." I panted to myself "I either need some cardio… which I do, or I'm really effing debilitated." Which was also true, but I wasn't exactly in any position to do anything about that.

Still, it wasn't in vain. At the top was a truly desiccated body, and with a little looting, I found a rusted ring, which I pocketed, and a key with all the teeth filed off of it. I pocketed the key too. If someone felt that the labor required to craft it was worth it, who was I to argue?

Having basically exhausted my options here, I made my way back to Oscar, picking through the rubble of each room on my way over. Not even some potentially edible greenery. He was finished by this point, his dead sword brother buried was well as he could contrive, the armour set aside.

"You have a choice of weapons" he said softly "Elliot favored blades imported from the East, yet he carried his standard issue short sword for tight quarters."

I hefted the Eastern blade. It was surprisingly light, yet as I tested it felt somewhat awkward, almost like the blade was heavier than it should be. My guess was that the balance was deliberate, and it would take someone stronger than me to keep control of it. And that's ignoring the hand eye coordination needed to maximize its effectiveness. I set the blade on the makeshift grave, and lifted the short sword. Light, solid, good point and small enough I could use it effectively in tight quarters. Nothing special, but it felt good in my hand.

"Standard issue is usually standard issue for a reason" I said philosophically, and grabbed the sword belt and sheath. "What's the situation on the armour?"

"The boots are unlikely to fit, and you seem to have adequate pants." He cleared his throat "the helm was too thin, which was why the arrows pierced it." He looked on at his comrade's body. "There will be hell to pay for cutting corners if I ever get back to Astora."

I grimaced, "Any other good news?"

He nodded "Oh yes," he said, tone dust dry "The straps that hold the fauld were torn by the impact, and the gloves have had the metal bands in them bent to the extent that they are impossible to wear." A brief chuckle, "If we had a blacksmith, everything but the helm could be repaired or fitted to you. As is however?" He shrugged.

So, basically, the only thing that was good was the torso armour, and the sword belt. Damn it. "What's the condition of the shield?"

"Scuffed, but serviceable."

The shield was a good solid heater. This one had straps meant to secure it to my arm, useful since that meant I could still grip my sword for two handed strikes if need be. In hind sight, the late Elliot probably used two handed strikes with his favored blade, and had his shield custom fitted with that in mind. Not that I minded.

We got me fully equipped (a significant production), then returned to the Stair Room.

"How do you guys wear this stuff?" I asked, shifting my shoulders. Damn Itch just would not go away.

"With training," He murmured sympathetically, "And I suspect that it feels heavier than it is due to your current state.

Fair enough. We climbed the tallest flight, and Oscar used a key to open the door at the top, and then twitched in dismay.

Getting up where I could see, I saw why. Another body cratered in the right parapet, this one female.

"Our guide" Oscar whispered sadly "A pyromancer hailing from the great swamp. She knew the roads to Lordran."

We didn't exactly have time to brood as a duo of Hollows came clattering around the corner. Oscar parried the firsts haphazard swing, then delivered a professional stab through the guts, I sidestepped the seconds downwards swing, and backhanded it in the face with my shield. I followed up by then punching my own blade through its chest. It jerked and clutched at the blade, the glowing lights it had in place of eyes dimmed, and I finished the job with a twist of the short sword.

When I turned Oscar had already rounded the corner, and another hissing rattle told me he just dispatched a third.

Once he returned he faced me, sighed, then turned back around to continue scouting up ahead "…Be respectful." He tossed behind him.

Nodding despite him not looking at me, I began my grisly duty.

I found the ashes that I assumed had once been her pyromancy flame, a busted hand axe, and a locket. I took off one of her manchette, and tried it on. It fit, so I striped off my shield, and put the other one on as well. They were surprisingly comfortable. I undid the belt holding her pouches and supplies and picked through them. Very little of use was in them, but she had a quiver full of bolts, an empty estus flask, and I found her light crossbow nearby beneath some rubble. It was a bit battered, but a quick pull showed that it was functional. Further inspection of her yielded a kind of back holster for it that I happily appropriated. Ah hell, why not? I belted the pouches on as well. Never know when I'm going to need some more storage room.

I flinched as I heard a heavy thump next to me. Twisting around, I saw a pair of heavy boots.

"Try them on" Oscar stated "I think that they will fit, but I can't be sure."

They did fit. Not perfect, but well within what I was used to. They were scuffed from hard use, but much more durable then my runners. I tactfully didn't ask where they came from, mostly because the answer was likely the same as all the rest of my gear.

"I also found a chain long enough to get down there" he pointed over the parapet "She probably found it, and was in the process of tying it when the demon found her."

"The lets finish the job before it finds us in the same situation." I said shortly.

Oscar noded, and went about tying our makeshift rope. The loop at the end had a crude weld in it that looked quite sturdy, so he looped the chain around several bars and threaded it through the eye.

"She must have used her pyromancy to fuse the chains end to end to make it long enough." Oscar marveled, and suddenly I found myself wishing that it was her I rescued from the brink. Oscar was a nice guy, and he very obviously had a ton of martial experience, but this dead woman was crafty. And likely a damn sight nicer to look at then my faceless friend.

Of course, if I had my choice, I'd have gotten both.

We managed to get down the ladder before everything went to hell. I should have known it would. That unreachable spot between my shoulder blades was itching so badly it felt like it was on fire.

We made it almost to the first broken wall of the cliff, looking for a way down when we heard an inhuman bellow.

We turned as one to watch that hulking monstrosity slam into the ground. Oscar swore, and I just had the thought run through my head that the fat-ass needed to lay off the trough of hot fudge. Then it began to charge us, and all lunatic hilarity I may have felt vanished before a choking tide of terror. We ran like terrified rabbits, because there was no way that our toothpicks could sufficiently damage that seven meter tall monstrosity. Oscar looked up, and obviously saw something that drove him mad, because he ran toward that edge faster, and leaped off of it. I, still having my facilities in tact, stopped short.

Just in time for the Asylum demon to slam that massive club into me, and hurl me off anyway. My world was pain. My last moments were seeing the ground speeding towards me, and black feathers whipping around me, and wind shrieking in my ears, yet I was in too much pain to really register anything.

Once I hit the ground though, the pain stopped. Just like everything else.


	2. Interlude At Firelink

As before, I only own a copy of Dark Souls. Not the IP.

Oh, and due to my betas mentioning a few issues with the last chapter that they missed before, I've done a bit of modifying. It's not a lot, but it is slightly expanded. If you haven't, you might want to re-skim the last chapter, but it won't be absolutely needed. Just the first bit really.

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><p><em>Soon, the flames will fade, and only Dark will remain. Even now, there are only embers, and man sees not light, but only endless nights.<em>

And amongst the living are seen carriers of the accursed Darksign.

Yes Indeed. The Darksign brands the Undead … It is your fate.

Only in the ancient legends it is stated that one day an undead shall be chosen to leave the undead asylum in pilgrimage, to the land of the ancient lords…

Lordran!

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><p><strong>In the abyss of death, something shuddered, and then sparked into being. A single light burned in the everlasting darkness, and knew that it did not belong. This light refused to be extinguished by deaths embrace, and was empowered enough to fulfill that denial of nonexistence.<strong>

**What was this power?**

**Non sentient, the spark in the darkness could not begin to fathom the why of how it could still be, it simply was. Held into being by something as alien to it as the prison in which it existed.**

**In the land of the living, a crimson spot between the shoulder blades of a dead man that should not have been, sparked into a tiny ring of flame.**

**The spark reacted, suddenly having purpose once more. That spark twisted, and writhed. In a time that was both mercifully brief, and infinitely long, the soul slipped the binds of death and returned to whence it came.**

**And once more, the abomination drew breath.**

* * *

><p>It's a fucked up day, let me tell you.<p>

First off, the only reason why this thought thread didn't start up sooner. I woke up dead at Firelink shine.

You heard me.

It was a peculiar state. I wasn't precisely in control of my facilities, and yet I could still function relatively normally, though higher thoughts were rather difficult, and there was something about the other people I woke up around that drew me to them. Made me want to kill them and take… What? Intellectually I knew –and know now if I'm honest- that I wanted their humanity, but for the life of me (Mental note, find new saying. I don't think this one applies anymore.) I can't seem to really connect with what that means outside of game mechanics.

Food for later thought.

A small spark of what I was, or am now I guess, remained though. From what I've been able to pick up, is that I was a hollow, basically like those ones in the asylum but less atrophied, but still somehow sane. I didn't attack anyone, and I was able to answer questions. Supposedly this was a fairly significant development because I became more or less full hollow, yet still retained enough of myself that I could still function like an unhallowed Undead. Peachy.

From what Oscar has been telling me, the typical way things happen is that once hollowed, a given undead will degenerate rapidly into a mindless monster, with the strong willed and good natured managing simply to remain docile but still subject to the minor issue of being a brain dead fu-

Stopping the tirade now, before it turns into breakdown number seven.

Except for the initial level of degeneration I took in loosing much of that spark that made me, well, me, I didn't change mentally at all.

Eventually I suggested that perhaps it might be best to see if anything could be done about it, and Oscar tracked down a black sprite. After that, they gave it to me, I absorbed it on instinct, and then Petrus did some kind of ritual that reversed my hollowing.

I don't think he thought it would work, because he looked as shocked as I was

After that Oscar started talking and asking questions whose answers all added up to 'Hell if I know' and telling me about Hollows. Couldn't tell you most of what he said, because I wasn't paying attention, instead preferring to try to burn the time I spent as a hollow from my mind.

And that brings us up to the present.

"You are not paying attention to me in the slightest." Oscar stated flatly.

"I picked up that functioning as a hollow is unheard of, that hollows come back to life painfully, incessantly, and several other little things that I already knew." I said equally flatly.

He flushed deeply.

Hah! Yes I saw him blush. He took off his helmet once it the area was deemed sufficiently secure, before I came back to life. High cheekbones, blond, thatch like hair, and green eyes. He might have made a pretty girl if he didn't have such a strong jaw and thin lips.

"If you want to tell me something I don't know, how did you get us here? And more pressingly in my mind, how did you cart me here after scraping my remains of the bottom of that cliff?" Total bullshit about me not knowing; he enlisted the giant bird, but I couldn't have him thinking I could know about things I wasn't alive for.

"The crow was kind enough to bring us." He said simply, then smirked, "And with a bit of nudging flew to the bottom so I could 'scrape up your remains" he made air quotes on the last phrase, using my chosen terminology. He then pointed towards the ruins that served as Firelink shrine, "Our benefactor is perched over there."

I looked over, and my heart stopped (if it was even going in the first place). "That has to be the biggest Gwyn damned bird I've seen in my life" Only expecting it was able to allow me to stay in character and freak out worse than I did.

"Technically you didn't see it during your 'life"

"Hah. Hah. Hah."

The ruins of Firelink were largely made of a yellowing stone that had various mosses and fungi growing on it. The point with the bonfire was a circular area with some stairs behind us backing up nearly onto the cliff on which the shrine was perched. Down those stairs I knew that Anastacia of Astora, our local fire keeper, was residing in a small room with bars which was carved into the wall. The rest of the ruins involved what looked like a dilapidated church.

Our 'benefactor' was resting on one of the walls of the shrine proper, and was easily four times the size of a grown man. It was a damn big bird.

He spoke again, "There are a few others here as you saw." He paused, as if considering something "Now that you are doing better, it might do us good to get you properly introduced.

"Joy."

Oscar frowned "Here now!" he said forcefully "These people are some of the few sane remnants in this forsaken world, Isolating yourself via alienation is far beyond stupid."

I sighed. He was right; I really was going to have to make friends at some point if I wanted a chance. That said I still felt like crap, so I suspect that I am significantly less diplomatic then I should be at the moment.

"Oscar, I might be relatively human again, but I still feel like death. I'll do far more alienating by talking to people right now." I looked him in the eye "Now if you would, go make my excuses, please. I need some time alone to digest what happened." A slight spike of sick humor ripped through me "It's not like death is such a common occurrence for one person they can simply walk it off."

A grimace crossed his face "Though I had hoped that you could be the first." Still though he relented, stood, and picked his way over to where another man was sitting.

Alone with my thoughts once more, I decided to push away the darker ones away while I focused on my game plan for going home.

My throat tightened. All through my stay in the undead asylum, a tiny part of my mind had rationalized that it was all just a long nightmare, and I had accepted that unthinkingly. My -I was about to say untimely, but I suspect that there is no such thing as a timely one for the subject- death shattered those delusions. People woke up from dreams when they died unless it was in a particularly low quality horror b-movie.

Going home was going to be a very long, very hard task and I knew of only four sources that might have the necessary information, or power to get me there.

The first, easiest, and probably most unreliable, would be to use a homeward bone. Not that I think it will be that easy, but it's not like it will hurt to try. And if it works, then hey, I'm back in my world and I have a new horror story to tell.

The second, and my preference, would be the Dukes Archives. There is a hell of a lot of books in that place, so chance are good that at least one of those books might have some information I may find useful. Quite honestly if all else fails I could likely use the Information there and develop my own trans-dimensional spell. Not an ideal method, as I would prefer not to pull a Big Hat, and go nuts due to knowledge overload. Still, none of my options are particularly attractive; this one is just my favorite.

The third is easily the most dangerous and will only be my last resort. Seath the Scaleless is the grandfather of sorcery in its current form, and has been pushing magic to its limit ever since. Much as I hate the analogy, it's quite possible that he'll give me some metaphorical ruby slippers and tell me to bugger off. This also assumes that he doesn't decide that I look better as a lawn ornament and give me a puff of dragon breath for my pains.

The final would be to speak to a Primordial Serpent. Both Frampt and Kaathe have been around for a very long time, and, knowing that I'm not a particularly special snowflake, I am probably not the first person to be displaced into this special hell, nor will I likely be the last. The flipside of this is that both of them have an agenda and will likely have no problem lying through their over sized teeth to get me to forward it. Me having a better than average chance of getting through due to foreknowledge probably won't get past them either.

Assuming that a homeward bone doesn't work though, I'll need to ring both bells of awakening before I can do anything else. The one in the parish will likely be easy enough; I'll just have a chat with my large feathered friend to take me on a trip to the top of the bell tower of the parish. The bell of Blighttown will be much more difficult, to the extent that taking the long way to the Undead Parish might be a better idea. It will be hard for sure, but the practice in fighting will be valuable, not mention the items I could pick up.

…

_ Or I could have a word with that bird, and see if it would be willing to fly me directly to the Dukes Archives, and skip a good chunk of potentially fatal adventuring._

Spirits somewhat lifted, I stood.

"Maybe I _am_ in a good enough mood to talk to people" I murmured to myself.

I stalked over to where Oscar was chatting with… did any source tell me what his name was? The Crestfallen Warrior I guess. Not that I cared, he wasn't going to last to much longer in any case, so I'd best not make any real connection to him.

The chainmail wearing man paused in his conversation to look at me, and then pointed "It looks like he is willing to talk with the rest of us after all."

"I just decided to stop being a crybaby and man up" Not precisely true, but he didn't need to know that. "After all, doing nothing is just an agonizingly slow way to end it. I'd like to think I have bigger stones then that." I managed to keep the accusing note that wanted to creep in to my voice out. It wouldn't do to blow knowledge another of my aces by letting Oscar know, that I might know something that I shouldn't know yet. That and I was keeping what he had mentioned about alienating people and not doing so in mind.

Not that it would have mattered, because the dig had no effect but to elect a weak smile. "Slow it may be, but how many times do you think you could go through dying before those _stones _vanish with your humanity?" he gave a cold humorless chuckle.

I ignored him, largely because he had a point and I had no witty riposte. How many times _could_I die before I completely lost it? Pushing that thought into the depths of my mind with all the other depressing, unhelpful ones that threatened to crush what little resolve I had, I turned to Oscar, "So what were you talking about?"

"Largely how it is suicide to try and ring the _bells_" he emphasized the plural "There is one up in the parish and another down below in a place called 'blighttown'." He sounded grim.

"Sounds like fun times," my tone was dust dry. I looked at the man in chain, "Wanna come along for the ride?"

Mr. Crestfallen looked shocked, appalled, and a little sick "I would rather die again then venture into that hive of sickness and rot!"

I nodded "Fair enough, I'm going to have a word with that massive crow actually, and see if wouldn't mind taking me to the Dukes Archives near Anor Londo." Seeing the blank look on both their faces I continued "It's an absolutely massive library amassed by Seath the Scaleless, and a treasure trove of ancient texts I'm sure." Telling them my objective didn't seem like too much of a risk. Oscar 'knew' I was something of a scholar, so my wanting to get to the biggest concentration of books probably wouldn't seem that unusual. That same scholar background ought to keep them from questioning how I knew about it in the first place.

Oscar shook his head "I can already tell you that the crow will probably not accept your request." He pointed up to the upper most reaches of the ruins, and on closer inspection, I realized that he was pointing at the birds nest. "The only reason it traveled as far as it did was to move its eggs from the Asylum to here at Firelink, Probably in the event that demon got loose and trampled, or ate, its children. I was lucky it decided to bring me along," he poked at me "and you were lucky that I could persuade it to go down so I could retrieve your remains."

And my terrible mood returned. This time more tempered with anger rather than despair though the latter wasn't far behind. It must have shown on my face because the crestfallen warrior smirked "Looks like it wasn't bravery that motivated you after all."

"No." I admitted sourly after a moment, "No it wasn't. Yet a minor setback like that isn't going to stop me from going-" I cut myself off. I had about said 'home'. That would have been bad.

Oscar looked somewhat saddened, "Well seeing as how I need to ring the bells, I guess we will be parting ways shortly."

That look on his face made me feel guilty for some reason. I didn't know why, we had only known each other for about twenty four hours total, If that, so it's not like we had time to form a meaningful emotional attachment.

Did he actually expect me to help him on his quest?

Still, whatever I wanted, we weren't separating yet. Mostly because that damn door to Sens Fortress wouldn't open until both bells were rung, so I guess I was going to have to help him. The alternative was striking out on my own when he inevitably got killed and drained of humanity by Quelaag.

Assuming that the homeward bone thing doesn't work. Need to keep hope after all.

"No, actually, we won't" I assured him, and his eyes lit up. That made me feel even worse. Somehow. "The road to Anor Londo begins at the parish. Undead from the burg over there" I pointed at the town on the cliff, "would start their pilgrimage by getting a blessing from their priests, then travel to Anor Londo from there."

My little lore moment was most likely complete BS, but it sounded good, and was met by Oscar's thoughtful nod.

The Crestfallen warrior just gaped at us. "You two are seriously considering this?" He said slowly. "You _might_ be able to ring one up in the parish, but Blighttown?" He shook his head, "Impossible."

We both leveled a stare at him, and I felt an irrational spike of fury run through me. I slammed my control down on it before it got out of hand. He had a point. No matter what happened, this was going to be the epitome of suck. So what did every impulse running through me scream 'kill him for doubting you!'? Even ignoring how it was a bad idea to attack people in general, attacking someone much more skilled then me bordered on suicidal.

I felt Oscar's gauntleted hand firmly grip my left hand, which I only realized that my left hand was slowly going to my sword on the same side. I stilled it myself, and his grip fell away. Irrational rage broke, and made way for fear. What was wrong with me? I may have joked about killing people before, but I had never made any moves to actually do so!

The crestfallen warrior, unlike Oscar, had missed the movement and was still waiting for our response.

"Be that as it may be." Oscar said firmly, "Things are only going to get worse until someone does something about it." He looked at me, keeping his face carefully neutral "You mentioned something about having some geographical knowledge of Lordran?"

I nodded in response, not trusting myself to do anything else.

"Then we need to make plans." He turned to walk back over to where we had been sitting before, and I followed woodenly.

Once we were out of earshot, he looked at me and hissed "What the name of the twelve gods do you think you were doing."

I swallowed, "I-I don't know. I just felt angry, but there was no purpose behind it." I dodged his eyes "I _swear,_ that has _never_ happened before."

"I see," he nodded slowly "I will have a talk with Petrus later, and I shall see if he knows why you acted so irrationally." He sighed, "Not that I expect him too. Undead returning from being hollowed is rare. I've never heard of it in fact, but the simple matter of Petrus knowing a ritual that does just that, suggests that it's not unheard of."

He sat down, and I followed suit.

"Now, we truly do need to discuss our plan here." Oscar finally said, "My first impulse would be to travel through the burg, and collect what supplies we can. The after we ring the bell, you tell me the about Blighttown the best you can, then we go our separate ways. I'll go down to Blighttown through the burg depths, and you can make your way to the Dukes' Archives." I guessed that the Crestfallen Warrior was somewhat forthcoming with the general geography that he knew, and told Oscar.

I considered that. It sounded good on paper, but I knew that Sen's Fortress would not open before both bells were rung, and getting through it besides would require me to be much more comfortable with my weapon then I was right now. There was also the matter that I highly doubted that I could take on the snake men within even if I was as skilled as Oscar was. Skill only did so much, and the snake men were massively strong. So I needed an equalizer. If I remembered right, and if nothing threw me for a loop, there would be one right beneath a giant parasite in Blighttown. The trouble was getting to it, and getting back safely.

I had a plan slowly begin to take shape. Yet before I could really do anything about it, I had to get some fighting skills.

"It's a good plan." I said, "And if I thought that I was up for taking on the dangers that would be on the way to Anor Londo, I'd say we go for it." Now for the brutal truth, "But I'm not. I'm not sure I'm even up to where I was before being dropped into the Asylum, physically, despite the Estus at least making me healthy again. I know also know I'm not emotionally up to scuff at the moment. That debacle with that pessimist proved that."

Oscar pursed his lips, and was silent for several long moments. "Have you heard of soul reinforcement?"

I prevented myself from betraying myself with shock, and just slowly shook my head. I was positive that that would have fallen purely under game mechanics, so I hadn't even taken it into account. This changed allot. Hell, this changed everything!

"When an Undead strikes down another creature, the Undead gathers essence from it. We call this essence, souls, though that is not precisely correct. It is more like the energy that holds a soul to this plane." He paused to make sure I was following. "We can absorb, and release this energy freely. However, when at a large concentration of Estus; usually a bonfire, it is possible to use this energy to strengthen one's self." He gave a wry grin "This is primarily why it is used as a currency among undead as well."

"I see" So basically same way it was used in game. Huh.

"Now the ways that one can reinforce one's self varies. You can enhance you physical strength, which would allow you to wear heavier armor, and swing your weapon harder. It will also increase your running speed, and the amount of weight you can lift. Think of it like building up your muscles, though it does not grant the durability to them if they over extend themselves.

Then there is your physical durability, which effects your rate of healing, your tolerance to toxins, as well your ability to survive and recover from injury. It effects also to some degree how long you can exert yourself before exhaustion. It will not make you able to carry more weight, yet it will let you carry it longer, and more comfortably.

Your control over your body, which includes reaction times and hand eye coordination. It also affects your senses slightly as well. Many mages say that doing so increases the rate at which you can think, though I have not noticed it myself. This is useful for to make it easier to control your enhanced strength, though do keep in mind that it will not grant you the skill to use the control correctly. That you must earn on your own."

He frowned "And lastly is your… spiritual essence. This is something very difficult in increase without souls, as it requires much mediation. The long and the short of it is that it is the wellspring of power that a sorcerer or a cleric draws upon to cast their spells, or use their miracles. You do however need to be able to comprehend the arcane arts you are manipulating, or have the faith that your miracle will succeed, and no reinforcement will make you more intelligent or more faithful." He chuckled "I've never had the faith to do anything but seek guidance from my gods."

"That…would probably help" I murmured softly. After a moment I went on more normally "Of course it doesn't solve the more immediate problem I have with this emotional."

"Indeed" Oscar stood, "I shall go and speak with Petrus. Just… Stay here, and try not to interact with anyone while I am gone. Do not go exploring or trying reinforcement either. Without knowing what is going on…"

"_I'm a danger to myself and others, so it would be best if the problem was kept manageable_." A bitterness that I felt I had every right to feel pervaded my voice.

He flushed "I did not say-"

"Just… _Go_. Talk to Petrus. Let's get this issue solved." I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes.

I heard him walk away, and kicked myself. My only kinda friend here and I was treating him like crap. _I'm such a wonderful person_.

Still. Having some alone time was something of a blessing. I've never been a social person, and just being around people for any real length of time was, and still is, enough to sour my disposition. I'd like to think that it was merely that, being amplified by high stress that was doing this to me, but for some reason I doubted it.

Ok, I'm a smart guy, let's work backwards. When was the last time I was relatively like my normal self that was after I was dumped in the asylum?

Right before we descended that chain.

When was the first time I was more irrational then normal?

Right after I woke up from my dirt nap was the worst, but it continued well after Petrus re-humanized me.

A vision of a black sprite danced tauntingly through my mind and caused my eyes burst open. Humanity. I had no humanity. I kicked myself. Of course humanity was the issue; people in the game explicitly killed each other over it and I highly doubt that that would be the case unless it was more important than looking good, and getting more stuff.

Obviously simply being _a_ human wasn't enough. You needed more of it to _be_ human. Good thing to file away. I also resolved to collect as many of the sprites to hold on to as I could. Worse came to worse, I'd guess humanity could be used just as easily as souls for currency. That solved, I turned my attention to other matters. Like the mechanics of this world.

What in the Dark Souls game world was legitimate, and what was just game mechanics? Doors opening from one side was obviously a game mechanic, as were the impassible rubble piles. Humanity was legit, and reinforcement existed, if in a slightly different form.

Vaguely I wondered how magic and attunment slots worked, and ditto for the "casts per day" type mechanic. It would probably be a good idea to figure that out, as I never was a natural athlete and truth told I would prefer to stay away from the swords and demon claws of my potential enemies. Of course the concept of killing things with the power of my mind was quite an attractive concept too. I resolved to rescue Griggs and Big Hat if at all possible. Laurentus as well. Heck, especially Laurentus. Pyromancy would serve even better as it didn't require anything but a Pyromancy Flame. Maybe. I'd need one for Power Within anyway.

I shook myself out of my reverie at returned my attention to game mechanics. I haven't seen a fog door yet, so likely that was just a mechanic. Covenants are likely legit, which meant that I should keep an eye out for Darkwraith, as the limitations of invasion and warnings were most certainly not. I also had to wonder if the multiple worlds overlapping applied here, and if soap stones existed. Weapon scaling grades were likely bull for the most part, though I had to wonder about if the magical and other enhancements scaled somehow.

Distances, I realized with dread, were also likely much larger then depicted in game. I realized just how lucky I was that the asylum was as I had remembered it from the game, as very few places would be as advertised. The asylum, Firelink, and the Parish would likely be roughly the size as in game. Everywhere else would likely be vastly different. After all, I could hardly see being able to walk the length of Lordran in a few hours. Day's maybe, but not hours.

Good thing Undead didn't apparently need food, though I was wondering how long an estus flask would hold out. I made another mental note to keep track of how much of my flask I went through in a given day. Another game mechanic that existed, but was somewhat altered.

I pushed the rest of my thoughts of comparisons to the game out of my head, least it become too much, too fast. Best to keep it to a handful at a time, just so I could learn and remember it all.

Instead, I busied myself looking over my equipment. Surprisingly my weapons and shield survived my plunge better than I had. My armour, on the other hand, needed a smith rather badly. The rings in the front of the armor were almost universally bent, and the breast plate was somewhat flattened. The surcoat was slightly shorter then historically and only came down to my knees. It was also ripped in several places, and in need of a good cleaning

My short sword was a plain weapon. The leather wrap frayed from hard use, yet still serviceable. I noticed a few small nicks in the edge, and I resolved to track down a whetstone to service it. The sheath was simple; the only bit of decoration was the small metal balls on each of the ends that matched the pommel. The sheath was just as plain, made from the same type of leather as the wrap, and the metal on each end just slightly rounded.

The heater shield was slightly odd in that it was a slab of metal rather than wood with leather cover, but I honestly wouldn't complain. The metal was surprisingly light as well, being only about a kilogram, and wasn't any that I recognized. Perhaps this was titanite? Beyond the peculiarities of the metal it was made of, it was just a simple unadorned shield with a triangular shape. The straps could use replacing, but in the meantime, they would do.

The crossbow was the final weapon in my arsenal, and the one that had most assuredly seen better days. The body was marked and battered, and the catch slightly bent. The bow was scuffed, and made of the same peculiar metal my shield was. A quick pull confirmed that it was moderately flexible, and that I should probably find a goat hoof, or something, to use as an intermediary between my fingers and the string. I didn't feel it was likely that I could find a windlass to crank it back. There was probably a good chuck of force behind it in the event I could fully pull the string to the latch. I decided that I wanted to take it to either a bowyer or a blacksmith, whatever it took to get this back into shape, before I used it.

My estus flask was fine, and I was somewhat surprised to find that someone had been kind enough to fill it. Pressing the top opened top to my lips without taking a sip revealed a somewhat sweet taste. The key and the rusted ring I found seemed to be fine as well.

What the hell was taking him so long!

I crushed the uncanny wrath beneath my heel once more. I used to do something whenever I got really pissed or depressed before I got dropped here. The first few days in the cell weaned me off it. Damn it, what was it? It felt significant, like it could be a salve that would do more then just hold me for the short term. There was a fog that began to cloud my mind as soon as I tried to remember what it was, and it got thicker the harder I tried to remember.

It was like there was something that was fighting me, holding back what I was, and screaming that I couldn't.

Then something broke and the first strains of music tore through my mind, and my very being soon after. It felt so good, but it hurt so badly. It was like I was so inhuman despite my current form that the simple memory of music was like a bane to my being. More memories flooded in. Song after song. It hurt, pure, unrelenting exhausting agony, but I didn't care. These stupid little earworms were canned glory to me at the moment, and I held those burning memories to my soul. I refused to let that small piece of that which I used to be go. Those small melodies were to become the talisman that would get me through the hellish days ahead. Just, as I now remembered, it got me through my bad days before this.

An hour later, Oscar returned.

"Sorry it took so long. Petrus was trying to waste time by calling it sacred knowledge, and wanted a 'show of faith'. Payment for information pertaining to his own safety. I argued the point a touch firmly" His mouth quirked, "Which is when I pulled out my rank as prince of Astora, threatening him with the power behind my station. Then he wouldn't stop apologizing. The man is a toad." He finally registered my state. "Twelve gods, man. You look almost as ghastly as you did when you rose from the dead!"

"In a way, I've risen again" I chuckled. "Indecently, I figured out that my problem was that while I was a human again, I wasn't human. A bit of soul searching started me on the path to the later." Wait a minute. "Hold on. You're a Prince?" That was a surprise, though I guess it shouldn't be. His speech and manner were to proper to be anything but a noble of some sort.

"I have five brothers between me and any throne." He said shortly, then changed the subject "If you had figured it out, what did you not come tell me, and help me avoid that debacle?"

I gave him wry look, and let him change it "You told me to stay put. So I did"

"But I…" he deflated "Fine. You win this one." He sat down next to me "you mentioned soul searching that put you on the path to being truly human again. What did you find?"

"Music" I said as shortly as he had on his own privet subject.

He raised an eyebrow. "Music? The work of bards does not strike me as something that would be so significant."

Anger boiled up again, but it was a familiar rage unlike the effects of humanity loss, and it was easily subdued. I couldn't chew on him for not knowing. He wasn't me so he couldn't understand how significant it truly was. "Remember that issue we had in the asylum about me speaking lightly of your comrades?"

He went quiet.

"You just did the same sort of deal."

The silence we shared was rather awkward. Damn it.

"So, in a blatant attempt to change the subject, where is my Darksign? I couldn't find it when I looked over myself in the cell." Wow. Of all the ways to start that sentence off…

"In a gracious maneuver to make it succeed, that must mean that is somewhere you couldn't see it." He certainly _sounded _relieved that I was going to let the subject drop, too. "I'd guess somewhere on your back." He made a thoughtful face. "Take off your chest piece."

I obliged, and shortly after my armour and shirt were removed I felt a tapping right between my shoulder blades.

"Right there." Oscar said, "It is possible you have been marked for longer then you had thought."

"You know what?" I murmured slowly, "I'm fairly sure I have. I had an itch there for a good chunk of that trip through the asylum. I had thought it was just psychosomatic-"

"What?"

"All in my head." I grumbled at him irritably. "I thought it was just a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Not a real itch."

He nodded, "I see. About when did it start?"

"I dunno." I racked my brain, but I had so much on my mind at the time that it was just a passing notice, and a general feeling of paranoia. "After I got out of the cell though, but before we got to the hall where Elliot was." Invoking his friends name wasn't something I did lightly, but for some reason I felt that it was important to give some frame of reference. "Maybe even as soon as meeting you."

"It…" He stopped, and considered his next words carefully. "It is possible that you gained the mark while we were traveling through the asylum, and your fall triggered it into full activity." He frowned, "Do not take that as pure truth however. I am hardly an expert on undead, I just happen to be one."

It sounded pretty good and without knowing anything beyond 'The Darksign brands the undead' about the little fiery ring, I had nothing better to go on. That also seemed to kill that particular thread. We spent another few minutes in silence.

"Why is music so significant?" Oscar said finally, and with a solid chunk of trepidation. I didn't blame him; I did kind of give him an impression that it was a loaded question. For a moment I considered using that to my advantage and blowing him off, but I remembered my earlier rudeness and against that. I had a few loaded questions that I wanted to ask him myself and this struck me as a good point to garner trust.

But how to put it without revealing my nature? "Have you ever heard of the saying 'Music has charms to soothe the savage breast'?"

He shook his head, and I wasn't surprised. It originated from a poem from 1697, and was further bastardized since then, 'Music soothes the savage beast' my hairy rear. My guess was that they didn't have a William Congreve, or if they did, he probably hasn't been born yet.

"It's literal, and mine was always more savage than most." And now for mixing in the truth with some lies. "The Caravan had several minstrels in it, and my teachers found that I was happy, manageable, and agreeable when I did my studies near where the younger musicians were practicing. Otherwise I was… distinctly unpleasant to interact with, for both the teachers and other just about everyone else. I also seemed to work more effectively too, so needless to say people took special pains to keep music nearby."

My teachers in school never had any ideas of the sort. I noticed early on in my life that music put me in a better mood, so I was the one taking pains, not anyone else. Still, except for in classes, I always did have a pair of headphones on, and a song running through my head if actually listening to it wasn't a possibility.

"Eventually, as I grew up, I became more and more dependent on that to leverage out my foul temper. One might say I became addicted to music. It was just always there." Pure truth. "It made me feel safe. And without it I would simply get more savage, and nasty." I gave a half-hearted grin. "Seeing as how I never was much of a fighter… I got beat up a lot if I gave into that. People mocked me for it though, which boosted my dependency. Eventually I found that I had to develop a certain amount of self-control." I sighed, "Which is incidentally is why I was probably more horrified with myself then you were when I went for my sword back there. I _never _lose control. Ever."

True as far as things went. I was the victim of the common schoolyard bully, and music did give me the buffer to build the self-control I needed to turn the other cheek. It paid off too. It took a supernatural event of being stripped of the essence that made me human to lose it. Top that.

"Of course the music ended once I got bounced to a caravan without any musicians, and I needed that self-control I built up to wean myself off. A ways after that, I more or less just relied on crushing my savage impulses under heal rather than soothing them" I finished. This was somewhat true. My learned control did help out once I got to this world, and after the first week and a half I was too concerned with eking out enough food to keep myself alive to worry about music. If I'm going to be honest though, the loss of my mp3 player was probably as much of a cause of my early breakdowns as much as the realization that I was a world away from home. Even now it was probably the thing that hurt the most not to have. Yes, that includes plumbing.

"I see." Oscar stated. "But how, may I ask, does remembering that help you with finding your humanity once more? We don't exactly have a bard lying around."

"We may not have a bard, but I can remember the songs as clearly as if they were right here next to me." Which was also true. I had listened to all of the songs I had hundreds, possibly thousands of times each. My music collection was not small either or particularly limited either. "Certain songs also hold powerful memories. Kind of like…" I paused for a moment, trying to find the words. "It's like bringing back a shadow of the humanity I had then." I finished lamly.

"You feel that you can use that shadow as a semblance of true humanity to get you through until you can gain the black sprites." He seemed content, and continued softly "I suspect that you were being rather generous when you compared that gift to my comrades."

"I'm not you. I certainly thought that way, but I can't know how significant they are for you."

The conversation was getting awkward again, but this time Oscar had it covered. "At any rate, it might be best if we both spoke to Petrus. Learning that ritual to reverse hollowing would be rather useful, and despite his toadying he truly is much more knowledgeable about the specifics of undead then either of us seem to be."

"Yeah." I grasped the opportunity as graciously as he had grasped mine earlier "I want to ask him about miracles and magic as well. Or see if he could direct me to someone who knows enough to teach me about that stuff."

Thus, we both stood, and proceeded to the back of the ruins of Firelink, where Petrus of Thorolund was waiting for his companions. He was thoroughly immersed in a book of some sort, probably his equivalent to a bible.

We stopped next to him, and Oscar cleared his throat.

Petrus jumped and looked up at us quickly. "Ah, my lord. You have brought…" He looked at me with something that I guessed was veiled disdain. Bastard had a pretty good poker face though; it may have been annoyance at being pulled from his reading. "Your squire?"

"His savior, and guide actually." I said shortly. Petrus stiffened, lending cred to my disdain theory. I continued however. "We are going to be doing some traveling, and in light of what results from death, we have both determined that learning that ritual to reverse hollowing would be wise."

He eyed me, and glanced somewhat nervously at Oscar who was keeping his face passive. "Er, Yes. I suppose it would be." He paused, and then began again less stiffly "I meant no ill will by calling you squire. It is a noble profession." And one that puts said individual far below a warrior cleric such as him in status, I'd guess. I quashed the pettiness I was feeling beneath my heel. Ok, I knew he was going to abandon Reah in the catacombs, and leave her and her friends to be hollowed, but he hadn't really done anything other than be a bit pretentious by this point. Hostility wasn't exactly warranted. Yet.

Instead I gave a mirthless chuckle. "I'm part of no order, or covenant. I'm just a caravan rat that happened to get his claws into every book available, and talked to everyone with any degree of learning." A fake wry smile "After I found out about Lordran, I was fascinated about it, and I looked up every text and every legend I could find pertaining to it."

"Including," Oscar interjected, and the bottom of my stomach dropped out, "A variant of the legend on how the great lords came to this world. One that even the libraries in Astora have not cataloged."

Shit. I was hoping that he would have forgotten about that. I guess I opened that particular Pandora's Box, and there was no putting the evil I unleashed back in. But why did it have to be _hope_?

Petrus raised an eyebrow. "Really?" well, at least it got his attention. "Might I ask you to repeat it for me?"

I briefly thought about trading the legend for souls, but after Oscar had browbeaten Petrus out of his info without paying, it would be hypocritical to withhold my story from him. "In the age of ancients…"

Once I finished, Silence reined once mo- OK, Seriously. Way too many quiet moments. Couldn't someone give me a 'hey, cool story bro!' instead of considering everything I say as though it were a revelation from Go- Gwyn?

Petrus finally spoke, "I have never heard-"

"Of the furtive pygmy." I finished for him "Yes, we know. That would be the only legend that tells of him that I know of, so neither of us know any more about him then you do." It was kind of bullshit though, as I knew that the Pygmy was the dark lord, and basically the founder of the Darkwraith. Probably best not to mention that little tidbit though. Still, we had strayed from the point. "But while story time is fun, and enlightening, it is hardly our point of coming here. That ritual to reverse hollowing was the big reason, though I wanted to ask you about miracles and what you know of sorcery."

I dunno if it was my raw boldness, or if he was still bemused by my legend, but he taught us without complaint. Basically it was like reinforcement, a more or less instinctive event directed by intelligent thought. The variant that he had used on me was a slightly more advanced version that was more or less a miracle, and not something that we could pick up so easily.

In the case of miracles, he just stated that there was no point in telling me, as _obviously _I had insufficient faith to do anything, and he knew nothing of sorcery or pyromancy. Oscar on the other hand was 'fairly devout, and could likely pick up a few easy powers. It would take time to build the necessary will to unleash them into the world however.' Petrus' words, not mine. I left them to it, and went decided to go exploring. Oscar quashed most of his objections, and instead told me to be careful.

Yeah. Right. He really needed to tell me to be careful.

I poked around the shrine and found a stash of firebombs, and a few souls bound to this world. I didn't know how to deal with them at the moment, so I just put them in one of my pouches. Odd how that works. Then I dropped down the shaft of the elevator to the parish. It wasn't a very large drop, and it revealed a hallway.

Wait a sec.

Memories of the game came flooding back, if they were right then… They were. Another quick drop and I discovered a small clearing with several chests. One held a talisman that I intended to hand to Oscar at some point and a spiked mace that I threaded through my belt just in case. Another held loyd's talismans that would be helpful against more intelligent hollows. The third housed several cracked red eye orbs that I pocketed not from desire to use, but to get in the habit of picking up anything that might be of any use at all. And the last held six finger bones that I guessed were homeward bones.

My heart leaped into my throat. If one of these little bones worked and sent me home, I would be able to write off this whole mess as a really bad month. My hands quivered as I closed a fist around one. And I closed my eyes.

On one level, I was hesitant. Oscar helped me out a fair bit, and I was loath to leave him. On the other hand, I was more or less dead weight that happened to know a few things, but otherwise was pretty much helpless when push came to shove. My disappearance would likely sadden him, but I was sure that he would ball up enough to get his stuff done.

And really, I didn't belong here. One might say it was my duty to try and get home, if only so I didn't screw up the balance of this world. With that firmly in mind, my hand tightened. I felt the brittle bone break, and a sense of vertigo overtake me. Then all my senses went numb.


	3. Crazy Party In The Burg

Ok, At this point. Its probably Just better to say that every chapter ever posted is something of a work in progress. One which gets worked on every time i post a new chapter.

Still don't Own The IP, just a copy of the game.

* * *

><p>Once the numbness receded, I found myself standing beside Firelinks bonfire.<p>

"Damn it!"

Fury, despair, and a dozen or so other negative emotions surged within me. Obviously even a miracle wasn't enough to get me home, so what chance did I have of doing so the hard way? It was hopeless. I was doomed to die over and over-

I crushed that train of thought with iron will, and a burst of remembered music. Some of that depression was my own, but much of it was this part hollowed state, I was sure. I knew I'd find a way back. I was dropped here, so that meant that it was at least viable to cross dimensions. All this failure meant was that I'd need to push the boundaries of what was possible. But in order to do that I needed more knowledge of this world's magic and other supernatural events. And that meant I needed a teacher, or teachers.

Petrus was out for miracles, because he wouldn't deal with a perceived waste of time. Oscar might pass on what he learned however. I may be able to persuade Reah to part with knowledge as well once she showed up. If I got desperate I could go find the gods of Anor Londo. Gwynevere, illusion though she might be, could have some knowledge to spare.

Griggs was my best bet for sorcery. Rickert was closer though, and he might be able to get me started. Big Hat Logan would likely be either to close minded for what I wanted to do, or take it too far, so if possible I'd prefer to keep him in the dark. Seath, or his archives are my ultimate choice here, and I'd take the books over the flying lizard.

Pyromancy gave me more options. Quelana was obviously the best bet, but Laurentius knew enough to make me dangerous. Eingyi was a known developer however and also dabbled in things that other pyromancers considered heretical. If I could get my mits on the Old Witches Ring, or a translator, I might be able to add Quelaag, or the Pale Daughter to my list, if Quelaag could be persuaded and wouldn't simply attempt to eat me, anyway.

I shook myself out of my thoughts. If I wanted to learn any of it, I had to move. If things played outsimilar to the course of the game, Laurentius was essentially on a time limit, what with him being pegged as a meal by a butcher. Griggs was on the clock too, if I wanted to be honest. I had to find him before the hollows -Or the Capra Demon- did.

I returned to where Petrus and Oscar were studying first however. I didn't want to take Oscar with me at this point, as getting the two teachers would raise questions about how I knew where they were. I really did not want to answer that at this point, but not telling anyone where I was going was worse than stupid.

As I approached, Petrus looked up, then down at his studies again, before looking up more sharply. "You just went upstairs, how could you be coming from over there?"

"There was a hole upstairs that I dropped down. Led to a cache of stuff." I tossed Oscar the talisman "I also found a mace, and a set of homeward bones. I used a bone, as the alternative was going through the graveyard." I made a face, and was inwardly glad that this was an easily believable story. "Some of the bones came back together, and picked up swords, so I feel I'm justified."

"Indeed." Petrus said, likely mollified. I wished that I was better at reading people then I was. "Were you just passing through, or did you have a reason for interrupting us?"

"I have a reason." I told him, and then looked at Oscar, "I'm still a bit antsy, so I'm going to go scouting ahead in the burg."

Oscar frowned, "You should take someone with you. Preferably me, as I'm easily the best fighter here." He made a move to get up.

"I also don't intend to do a lot of fighting" I said dryly, and lay a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I just want to take a look, see if my information is accurate."

It took a while, but between noting that I handed myself fairly well in the asylum, various pandering, and lies about how I wasn't going to do much more then take a look, he finally relented.

"Here" Oscar said, rummaging through his own set of pouches. "I have some repair powder. It is expensive, and I was saving it for an emergency, but now is a good time as any for it. Use it on that crossbow of yours. If you do run into anything unpleasant, that should allow you to dispatch it from a safe distance."

I accepted his gift, as well as a copper coin that Petrus gave me, to prove that he had no ill will over this interruption. Cheapskate. If he wanted to help he should have gave me a load of souls.

The coin gave me an idea though, and once back at the fire, I used the bit of blade closest to my swords hilt to notch the coin a bit. A quick test showed it to be perfect for drawing the crossbow. A bit more work, and I had my notch rounded enough to not damage the string.

I sprinkled the fine powder on the projectile weapon, and marveled as the magic did its work. It seemed to sink in, and then the cracks and other abuses filled with a gold fluid flowing from within. Even the catch bent back, and was reinforced by the stuff. Once all the damage had been filled, it solidified, and turned into the material it was fixing. It was really, really cool to watch, and I understood why it cost so much.

I debated on whether or not I should consume the power of the souls I picked up, but decided against it. Who knew if either Laurentius, or Griggs would want payment even after getting rescued? Best to leave it in a form I knew I could fork over.

Reloading all my kit, I turned to the hill leading up to aqueduct. I had a party planed, and I needed to get the invitations to a couple of people. I buckled down, and started walking.

Now unlike the game, there weren't any Hollows on the hill. That was probably due to people of Firelink not feeling comfortable with them so close to home and going out on regular extermination trips. The bodies were still there though, and I cashed in on another two souls bound to this plane. I didn't feel particularly comfortable with trying to jump that gap to get under the aqueduct though, so I don't know for sure if that Ring of Sacrifice was over there.

The hill was also rather steep, and climbing it in full kit was hardly what I'd call a pleasant experience. In fact? I'd call it the opposite of pleasant. It looked similar to how I remembered it though, which was nice, but the path was quite a bit longer, and it took me ages just to get to the stairs leading to the maintenance entrance. This was not exactly the most wonderful way to start a solo outing, but I'd survive.

Maybe.

The Aqueduct was larger too, and I noticed with a fervent glee that unlike the one in game, this one had a walkway at the side that was certainly out of the water. The rat down at the very end too, hovering over a half-eaten corpse, but I didn't feel like wasting a bolt on it. It was just huddled over the body, watching me warily, but wasn't making any overt moves. Not a threat.

Other than that, the trek was quite uneventful. Eventually I came to the point with the gate to proceed further down the duct, or turn off and go up into the burg ramparts. The gate was closed, but with a bit of feeling around the other side, it popped open as obediently as the one in the asylum had. I proceeded.

Of course, now I was paranoid. I had seen nothing but that rat for a while now, and while I was sure that regular expeditions to keep the area around firelink safe, I doubted that-

"Hmmm, ye still have ye senses about ye?"

I jumped, and whipped my head to my left. Sure enough, on the opposite side of the duct, a rag clothed… I was about to say hollow, but the thing behind the bars was likely one of the few like me that hollowed, but retain a semblance of sanity.

"Why won't you buy some of my moss? I need your souls!" The voice was low, and cracked, but unmistakably feminine. The laugh that followed was enough to set my teeth on edge. Still, I marked this place in my memory. I just hoped that she had a similar inventory to what she had in game.

"Sorry Ma'am, but I'm a little broke at the moment." I responded, and hurried on my way. Yet another change, but I was close to the end now. "I'll come back with currency later"

The withered hollow woman gave an unladylike snort, "What a humdrum lad you are!" She muttered, seemingly unaware how the echoes magnified her voice. Maybe I was a little humdrum at the moment. Maybe I considered that a good thing. I had a good reason to think that things were about to get significantly less boring rather shortly, and I savored the quiet while I could.

I found the exit shortly after. It lead into what I guessed from the spiral staircase was a tower, and a brief look over the side revealed an unclad hollow with a bow standing on a makeshift lading of wood planks below. This, I reflected, was the perfect time to try out the crossbow. I unslung the weapon, notched my coin over the string, and heaved. It was harder than I had thought it would be, but I still got the string over the catch. A moment later, and the bolt was set in place. I took a minute to ensure the sights were set properly for me, and then settled them over the hollows head. One twang, a mess, and a wet thump later and I was on my merry way down. The hollow didn't stand a chance.

I had a brief feeling of affection for that long dead pyromancer. She had got me out of the asylum, and now she was once again smoothing my path. I resolved to ask Oscar what her name was, and perhaps make a little monument for her. I felt bad for not doing so in the asylum, but I was understandably preoccupied at the time.

Before I left the tower, I reloaded the crossbow. I knew I wouldn't be able to get more than one shot off at my current loading speed, so I'd best make sure it was ready in case of a surprise.

Taking stock of the local area, I noticed what I assumed was the way to the depths right nearby, and I had to pause. Now was the decision time. Do I sneak through the burg, and get Griggs for the extra help in the depths? Or would that take longer than Laurentius had? Would they even be in the spot they were in game? Maybe Griggs was already stuck in that house, and a box lunch for some hollows already?

Maybe I was too little, too late?

What it came down to was what arcane knowledge would be more difficult to get access to if I failed to save one. Unfortunately, that left Griggs in the cold. The dukes' archives were a font of magical knowledge, and I was confident enough in my ability to self-teach –even if it took me a while. Getting Pyromancy was going to be a much more difficult affair. A more important one too, remembering my plans for Power Within.

I scanned the street for threats, and I found none. Not that that meant anything.

Unlike in the game, I wasn't in an empty hall with limited ways to go. Yes I was up against a battlement, but the rest wasn't a stony hall. It was a town, with living spaces, and a few shops with nailed windows and doors. There were balconies and abandoned carts, honestly dozens of potential places to prepare for an ambush.

It set my teeth on edge, and made my shoulder blades itch.

I slowly stalked out, and made sure to pay attention to everything. It was tense, but nothing jumped out at me as I made my way over towards my target.

The tentative entrance to the depths was reminiscent of a subway entrance, with a door at the bottom. The door was locked, like everything else I'd assume. This wasn't a video game however, and the wooden door had seen better days. A solid kick next to the nob was all it took for the half rotted door to break open. I paused, and took another look around. Nothing came spilling out of the nearby buildings at the loud crack, so I guessed I was good.

For now anyway.

Now thoroughly tense, I crept down the tunnel, painfully aware at how loud I was jingling. I wanted to hum, to dispel any supernatural nervousness I might be feeling, but I didn't want to make any more sound then I had to. My fears were founded once I hit the bottom. A pair of hollows were bickering, on the other end of the room in which I came out into. They were hissing at each other, and fighting over… something. I crouched in the darkness, and quietly raised the crossbow. They weren't that far away. Judging from the hollow I tested thing out on, I should get plenty of penetration to kill both in one go.

If I could line them both up.

This was going to be a very dangerous shot. I knew that if I missed, they would notice me, and I'd get into a big noisy fight. That was bad. Killing one, but missing the other could be just as bad, as I had no clue how many more hollows would hear the commotion and come to see what was going on. So it had to be both, and it had to be either a double head or throat shot if I wanted to prevent them from making more of a disturbance when they went down.

I didn't know whether or not it was my Darksign, or my skin that was itching between my shoulder blades, but I guess it didn't really matter.

I waited for the perfect time. And it was a long wait. I got a few points that if I had about half a second more, I would have taken the shot for better or worse. Then I got a lucky break. One of the hollows grabbed a plank, and wacked the other in the face. I took the shot on the one that got hit, and the plank wielder didn't seem to notice that the bloody mess wasn't due to its impact. It whacked it's competitor a few more times, and I pulled back the drawstring. As it went to claim its prize, it didn't notice me knocking the bolt into place. After that it died just as easily the last.

I crept over to the bodies as quietly as possible, and saw that they were fighting over a black sprite. That gave me another idea for later, and I dropped it into a pouch, restraining myself from consuming it. Checking some of the barrels revealed a dream room for my once human self. I found barrels of rice, seeds, nuts, and other foodstuffs. I resolved to come back with help, and bring this stuff back to Firelink. In the event that anyone who needed non estus sustenance ever showed up, I was sure that they'd thank me. Speaking of nutrition, I pulled out my flask, and took a sip. Strength once again burned through me. Re-corking it, I made my way over to the 'windows' at the other side of the room, and my heart sank.

Easily two dozen, probably more, were milling around below. I found myself glad that the mass of hisses and rattles masked the rattles of my armour to the creatures below. This was going to go poorly, and vaguely I found myself wondering if it was too late to go try for Griggs. I shook my head. No, I was here, I'd see it through. I touched the pouch with the sprite in it. Perhaps I could throw a rock into the midst of the dining bandits.

The room looked almost like a cafeteria, with long tables, and benches. The hollows below were clothed in rags which looked vaguely soiled yet fairly uniform with each other. It struck me that these were probably the workers that maintained the burg sewers. 'Were the workers' being the emphasis here. They seemed agitated, and kept looking towards the stairs going down.

Once I saw the reason for it, I was less than pleased. Still, I could work this to my advantage.

A butcher came shambling up the stairs. The thing was about two meters tall, and was holding an equally massive butcher's knife. Now let's be clear, the appearance of the butcher practically had me pissing myself. Other feeling began to stir however, once it sunk in as to what he was carrying.

Laurentius was still alive, and even in the barrel. He also saw me.

"H-Hey! Hey You! HELP ME!"

Wrath burned through me. How could anyone be _this_ stupid? Someone appears that might be able to help. He obviously sees you. You are surrounded by zombies. Yes, the first thing you do is _shout_ at him, so _everything in the room knows he's there too_. Brilliant. _A testament to humanity_. I was seriously debating on letting them eat him. Unfortunatly, the desire for pyromancy won out over common sense.

Screw you, greed.

While everything in the room turned around to stare at me like a bunch of brain dead sad sacks, my crossbow came up. I took aim at the butcher, but not his head as you might expect. As it was about to take another step forward, my bolt impacted into the hulking thing knee.

It didn't go through, which scared the piss out of me. It did go in however, and the butcher went down like a sack of bricks. The barrel went down too of course, and while it didn't break like the game would like you to believe, the bands holding it together loosened enough for the Pyromancer to get free.

My one shot used, I let the crossbow drop, and, against all instinct, I vaulted off the ledge. I crushed one of the hollows, and decapitating a second, with a surprisingly well-placed firebomb destroying two more. Laurentius might have been an idiot for revealing me, but he acted just a quickly. The butcher and three more hollows turned into blazing pyres, and one more took a broken sword in the chest.

That concluded our surprise attack, and now the real fight was on.

I was surprised by how easy the little hollows were to eliminate. They weren't very strong I knew, but now that I was in better shape and armoured to boot, they seemed pretty pathetic. I did know that I'd be bruised by the end of this despite everything, though. They were weak, but some of the harder blows they got in still stung. My surcoat seemed to help too. It seemed to shed the fire from their torches, and I vaguely remembered some fluff about fire warding heraldry. That would help a great deal, seeing as how flames were quickly becoming more common in the room then hollows.

Laurentius was obviously panicking, hurling fireballs, and causing things to spontaneously combust. However, he didn't seem to notice the hulking monstrosity slowly rising to its feet, heavily favoring the leg with my bolt stuck in it. I couldn't blame him though. The firebug was doing a number on everything except for me and him. Since basically everything actually burning was a hollow right now, I decided that it was best I left him too it. Cooked muscle wasn't going to be swinging swords or clubs around would it?

I would still have to kill the butcher though. It was just too big, and too much mass to be eliminated by the fire in a reasonable amount of time. It would hurt it though. Maybe even weaken it enough that it couldn't just flatten me-

My train of thought was cut off as quartet of skinless dogs came barking up the stairs. The first I nailed with another firebomb and two more were incinerated by a rush of flame erupting from the pyromancer. The last was snatched up, and used by the butcher as a makeshift club to clear away some of the blazing tables, probably so it could find its weapon easier. The dogs' shattered body cast off immediately after.

My eyes locked on the butcher. I doubted that it would just let me and its next meal just waltz on out. I moved forward with a deadly intent. A small part of my mind was screaming at me to run despite knowing I'd never get out in time, but there was another more terrifying part in control. Some piece of my mind that either didn't exist before I came here, or was buried underneath the sedentary life I had been living. This was something primal and lethal, though untrained.

I kinda liked it.

A pair of hollows rushed me from my left flank, and were staggered from my shield lashing out at them. Another came from my right, and was dispatched by my blade going through its sternum. A living torch found the strength to try to rise again, yet I quickly crushed it beneath my heels. I was not a graceful tempest of precise death like Oscar had been. I was an avalanche of fury and steel. My movements were not smooth and efficient, but the hollows died from deep rents caused by my mad blows. The temperature was rising, and my mind was shutting down.

As far as my lethal side was concerned, there were only two beings in that inferno. Of those, one was going to die in about 30 seconds. Who it was going to be I couldn't tell you. But It was going to try to make sure it was the butcher. What I thought of as my normal side was left to look at things in the periphery, dulled and dispassionate.

Laurentius was slowing down, for example. The hellfires he conjured were obviously exhausting him, and I saw a hollow with a club get in a solid two handed hit on his side. He dispatched it with a found axe a moment later, yet he hissed in pain as he moved. He did something to his thigh, and seemed to move better again. Perhaps he relocated his leg?

Everything, including myself and Laurentius, was on fire by now. Admittedly the surcoat was doing its job, and my personal inferno seemed to be hovering around me rather than searing me directly, but I could only imagine what this whole thing looked like from the outside.

I couldn't dwell on my situation anymore however as I descended upon my target. My blade caught the two meter monster in the thigh, and it howled in pain. A soccer ball sized fist impacted my shield, and my teeth jarred at the impact. A snapping sound echoed through the room, and realized that it broke its hand. My arm was hurt, but it did not feel like I was going into shock, thus it wasn't broken. Probably. My sword licked out again, this time scoring across the things face, and it bellowed in fury. It rushed me, and the impact of both its fists knocked my shield aside. I managed to get it back into position in time for a brutal kick of the things wounded leg to knock me back.

I heard a voice screaming, but I ignored it. Any hollows that found my back weren't strong enough to do any significant damage, and in any case I couldn't afford to deal with a different foe now. The flames quickly roared higher, and all sound was snuffed out. I was completely alone with this monster. Once more I called up a tune, this one fast paced. I needed to keep control, or I'd get slaughtered.

The beast tore a plank from the railing and swung it at me. I blocked it, and felt my feet lift off the ground, before crashing down to the blaze once more. The next swing impacted on the floor, shattering it.

Shit. I was suddenly painfully aware of my situation.

The floor was wood, as were the supports below. The pillars of fire? The wooden beams preventing the roof from caving in. It swung again, and a pillar shattered, spraying my sheild with embers and splintered wood.

I back peddled towards where the stone stairs were, and finally realized why I was alone with the butcher. That hollow that Laurentius struck down had been the last, or one of them at any rate. He had dispatched anything else that was there, and then moved towards the entrance, where it was much safer. That's why he was screaming at me. He was trying to get me clear before the landing collapsed. I now headed that warning.

I just hoped that I wasn't moving too little too late.

The monster screamed its defiance at me again, and lumbered forward slowly, flailing that burning plank in the air. Then the floor creaked, and I knew it was about to go. One more step back, and my foot found the step. I had to hold for just a few more seconds, then the beast would fall, and I could escape. I blocked it again, and again. My shield arm was in searing pain, but still I held.

Then another creak and the floor gave way under the massive hollows' wounded leg, and the splinters mangled it further. The butcher faltered in pain, and for a moment, was more concerned with its injuries then me, and I took the chance to finish this. The tip of my blade pounded into its head, embedding itself there. The beast stared at me with an expression of anger, shifting to dull surprised as I wrenched my weapon free. The hulking corpse spasmed, as though trying to eliminate me after its demise. Then the floor finished giving way, sending the dead butcher into the now scalding water below.

I turned, and left the inferno to destroy everything else that may have been there. I'd come back later for anything significant that might have survived once the flames burned down. The air was glowing with more than fire right now however, as the souls out the dead hollows danced in a macabre daze. On instinct I reached out, and began to draw them in. Laurentius followed suite soon after.

"Th-Thanks" Laurentius gasped at me. "That was amazing."

I ignored his awe, and cuffed him over the head, shaking a finger in his face, "Never. Blow. My. Cover. Again. That," I gestured behind me "was a total shit storm." Oscar was going to murder me.

He rubbed his head, and had the decency to at least look sheepish, "Sorry, but… Hey, we lived through it."

I looked into the inferno again. "Barely." I tried to fill my lungs, but the back of my throat was seared with smoke, "And still might not, we need to get out of here before the smoke does what the hollows didn't."

Suddenly I felt incredibly sore, tired, and dehydrated. I popped a swing from my flask, and felt some strength return. I knew I wasn't up for another one of those for today. My shield arm wanted to call it quits, and even after my drink I was hurting pretty bad. I'd need a while to recover once I stopped, and every muscle in my body was screaming at me to let it rest. It was tempting just to go back to firelink, and just crash for a few days.

I debated leaving Griggs for when I was in better condition, but an image of a zombie sorcerer floated through my mind, putting that to rest fairly quickly. Well, at least Laurentius was here. It would be easier than doing it alone. I wasn't crapping out totally yet either, and as long as I managed to stay moving, I should be able to get this done. I hoped.

This was going to be twelve different kinds of suck.

"Come on then." I said, turning for the path out to the Burg "I actually came looking for someone. Rescuing you was just a sideshow." It was kind of a dick thing to say, and not even the truth. So sue me, I wasn't feeling very nice right now. Let's see how pleasant you are after something like that.

The pyromancer was hot on my heels though, "Er… Yeah. Sorry… I mean thanks." He took a second to get his thoughts in order. "Thanks for getting me out. I.. I didn't mean…" He went quiet.

I sighed inwardly. Now he was making me feel guilty for swatting him. "Look. You were scared, you saw someone that might not have been a hollow, and understandably you wanted to make sure you were going to get saved. That was a natural reaction." I paused to let that sink in. "It might have been stupid beyond belief, but it's understandable. Everyone makes mistakes, and I'm no different. The only thing is that I learn from my mistakes." I turned my head to look him in the eye. "Do you?"

"I like to think so." He said softly.

We finally hit freshish air, and I turned to look over my new companion in the better light. I noticed him sagging, and it occurred to me that while he might have protection against fire in the form of his clothes, and flash sweat, he probably was feeling fairly poor himself. He certainly didn't use Iron Skin if that hollow hurt him with a club. I fished around in my pouches for and found a spare Estus flask I missed earlier. It must have been Elliot's I guessed. Oscar must have slipped it in my pouch before I left, though I boggled a bit as to why he would. None of that meant I was ungrateful however.

"Here." I said, handing the flask over. "I have a spare, don't chug it all. We have a bit of looking to do yet. Let's find the other guy."

Laurentius took the flask gratefully, and gave me a look as though I was the best thing to happen to him since he learned pyromancy. Made me a little bit uncomfortable actually, though I guess I could see why. Estus flasks were more or less the main survival requirement here in Lordran, serving as both food supply and medical aid. I resolved to loot the flasks of every hollow I came across that had one. Some might call that greed, I'd call it prudence.

Basic needs met, we proceeded carefully through the lower burg.

"So" Laurentius murmured quietly, "what are we looking for?"

"Not a clue." In truth, I didn't. In game, Griggs just happened to be screaming for help as the chosen undead walked by. Here? Who knew? "But keep your eyes and ears open. Even in the best case scenario there will be hollows."

That was the point where I saw a gleam up on the second floor of one of the nearby buildings. I stopped the pyromancer, and strained my eyes to see what it was.

"Arrow" he breathed, following my eyes, and seeing what I couldn't. "Good catch. Window to the left of the break on the balcony." He rummaged under his robes, and produced my crossbow.

"Thanks." I felt myself flushing a bit. I had forgotten to pick up my most useful tool. Man that was dumb. I was much more out of it then I thought. Still, I had it now, and I pulled out the coin and drew the string back, then put the bolt in place. My arm burned the whole time.

The hidden archer fired his shot at Laurentius, who managed to use Iron Skin just in time to repel the projectile. The movement of getting another arrow attracted my attention, and I let my bolt fly.

A rasping hiss and the hollow dropped over the window into view.

I reloaded my weapon again with minimal gasping in pain, and took stock of how many bolts I had left. Twelve. Awesome. "I'm going to need to get some more bolts at some point."

"Yeah." He agreed. "Great shot, by the way."

"Thanks." Too bad every shot hurt.

We had a few more archers that brought my bolt count down to seven, and my 'screw this noise' count up significantly higher. Laurentius got his sash cut after the third by a playful hollow that came out of nowhere, and was overcome by her need for humanity seconds later. I tactfully refrained from commenting on the amount of overkill the pyromancer inflicted on the ex-woman, but did take a quiet solace in knowing that the damage inflicted meant she probably wouldn't wind up coming back. As we explored the day drew on, and eventually ended, Leading into night.

We listlessly turned another street, and my heart stopped. Poking around one of the doors further down was a Capra Demon, illuminated by a pyre behind it. I ducked around back around the corner, pulling my co-hort with me.

"Wha-"

"Keep your voice down!" I hissed in his ear as quietly as I could. "Goat Demon. Two blocks down. Looking for something."

I pulled back to see his eyes widening is shock, and horror. "A Capra Demon?" He whispered, "Here?" He poked his head around the corner, and pulled back just as quickly. "Mother of Chaos, you're right!" He whimpered, "Why are you right!"

"Because I don't speak things I'm not sure of out load." Ok, lying through my teeth again. "What could it be looking fo-" The image of Griggs stuck in a house floated through my mind, "Oh Shit."

"You don't think that…"

"Why else would the demon be poking around? It must smell _something_." I let him finish that thought. "And quite frankly, it would be just my luck too." I sighed, resigning myself to the task. "Come on. Let's get closer, try and confirm if it really is sniffing our friend out."

"I thought you didn't say things out loud you weren't sure of."

"Tells you how screwed we are then, doesn't it?"

We worked our way down towards where the monster was waiting via the parallel street. The trip was hollow free; though I suspected that was because hollows had enough sense to be steering clear of the demon. We managed to find an alleyway that brought us behind the house that I suspected Griggs was in.

We looked around, and it became clear fairly quickly that the architect that built the city never intended for there to be any use for the back wall of the houses down here. The ally was just a narrow gap between houses. Larentious had better luck with the side of it however, and had managed to scale up the wall before the demon peaked around the corner. He nipped inside the building, and I was left to pace.

When I left Firelink it was around mid-day. After my adventures getting down the aqueduct, retrieving Laurentius, and scouting around the city, night had well and truly fallen. The only reason I had seen the demon was due to that fire. Of course that same darkness was what prevented us from getting seen as well. It occurred to me that Oscar was probably worried sick. Of course, that could be my own raging insecurities, and hope that I was significant talking.

I hoped that the pyromancer could get Griggs out the same way he got in. There was just no way that I was up for fighting the Capra Demon in my current state, even with help. Hell, I doubted I could take it even at a hundred percent even in a lopsided fight like two to one. I did have a feeling that it moght come to that though.

Ok, best to put thoughts like that on the back burner. I could get out at any time thanks to the homeward bones, and I had enough to pass out to Laurentius and Griggs too. Just because they wouldn't send me home, didn't mean that they were useless.

But damn I wanted Griggs to be ok. He wasn't strictly necessary now that I had Laurentius, but he would give me a head start that I probably couldn't hope for otherwise. Sorcery would also be a useful thing to add to my combat repertoire of and… Ok, fine. I'll admit it. I didn't want to see anyone get killed and going hollow. I could probably take getting killed, but I doubted that other people had a technique that they could use to force themselves to stay sane the way I did.

I felt a touch on my shoulder and just about jumped out of my skin. Whipping around, I saw the pyromancers grim expression.

"He's there," He mouthed, "but I couldn't get to him without burning the building down." He shrugged. "Stairs are blocked."

I closed my eyes, and tried to clear away my sudden headache with a tune. If I could get to him, I could give him a bone. "Can you get him one of these" I said silently, and held out one of my valuable homeward bones.

Laurentius shook his head. "Good plan, but I only caught a glimpse of him through glass reflected in a mirror from the little hole I peeked through."

"Well, you're not going to like my other plan."

The plan was thus;

Laurentius would go around the corner when the Capra demon's back was turned, then chuck a fire ball at it. He would proceed to do some taunting, then after insuring that he would be chased, run the hell away like a little pansy. After he got the demon a fair distance away, or was just about to die a horrible, messy death, he would crush a homeward bone, sending him safely to Firelink. Hopefully his sudden disappearance would leave the demon more confused, and it would stay away for a while, or forget about the funny smell around the building it was just in front of and give all the time necessary.

I, in the meantime, would break the door down and rush inside. There I would find Griggs, and convince him that I was not a hollow, and he was not going to die. Once he had calmed down sufficiently, I would give him a bone, and then crush another. Then we would all be back at Firelink, where Oscar would praise me for doing the right thing, I'd learn magic, and pyromancy. Lastly, if the world was a just and fair place, I'd get a bunch of screaming, clingy, fangirls upon my return, all of whom would be happy to tend to my hurts.

…

Ok, scratch the screaming, and clingy parts.

"I don't like your plan" Laurentius mouthed. "You go around, and shoot it with your crossbow."

"You run faster, and I have this" I pointed to the metal pauldron on my shoulder "as a door knocker"

We argued for a little longer, before he finally relented, and dashed out to distract the beast.

"Hey you! Yeah you! You big… dumb… ah screw it."

A loud wooshing sound was briefly followed by a monstrous bellow and clacking of hooves. I dashed out the other side. The demon was in hot pursuit of my ally. Having confirmation the plan worked, I didn't waste any more time. I rushed the door. hard. It was sturdy, and it took a few running starts to break it, but I did so eventually.

I was honestly somewhat worried I'd break first.

A really girly scream had me wondering if we had the right person after all, but checking in a few rooms dashed my hopes of having attractive company, and confirmed me right.

"Damn it, man. You scream just like a woman."

The young man was huddled in a corner of what appeared to be a kitchen, looked up at me in terror. "Y-y-you! Stay back!"

I advanced, hands in the open, showing nothing in them "Hey, chill. I'm not a hollow, and I'm here to help you." Another bellow of fury set my teeth on edge. I was fairly sure that was our distraction going home.

He seemed to calm down a bit, oblivious to the demons roar in the background. "You're not a hollow?" He shook his head to clear it, "No, no of course you aren't." he stood, and dusted himself off. "I'm Griggs, of Vinhelm."

I handed him a bone from a pouch, and glanced behind myself. "I'm thinking that we should continue the pleasantry once we get back to Firelink. I suspect we are going to have company soon"

"Yes, of course." He tighten his hand, but paused short of breaking the bone, "I'd be happy to try teach you magic as thanks. I'm not nearly Master Logans level, but I know a few things"

I thought I heard a scraping, and I hurried him to get going. "Look, we can discuss that stuff back at firelink. We will have plenty of time to talk while I'm recovering from today's activities."

He nodded, "Yes. Yes, of course." then vanished

Well, that went well. I was expecting something significantly more unpleasant. Oh well. If I didn't hurry, I'd wind up fulfilling my expectations. In the mean time however, I'll take the wins where I can get them. I fished around for another bone, and just as my hand closed around it, I heard an enormous crashing from behind me. I turned and crushed at the same time, allowing me to watch the capra demon get cheated of another victim.


	4. Firelink Redux

UPDATE! WOOOOOO.

Still. The reason it took me so long is that I ended up needing to do a complete rewrite… Yeah. I'm considering uploading my in universe, but non canon for the story snips that I've written to get through writers block, as well as the complete screw up chapter as sort of an outtakes thing. Dunno how people would feel about that, so I'm asking here.

Still don't own Dark Souls, that honor belongs to From Software, while the publisher is Bandai Namco.

* * *

><p>"Some would consider it a sin to laze about until the sun reaches its zenith."<p>

"Merf." I flopped my arm over my face, trying without much success to block Petrus out. It might have been immature, but frankly I didn't care.

It was a little over a week since my trip into the burg, and I had recovered from my physical workout admirably with a few hours in front of a bonfire. No, it wasn't physical hurts that had me lying about like a useless sack of dung. Both Laurentius and Griggs were determined to convince me that theirs was the better magic, and I should drop the other. On a personal level, I was seriously regretting not leaving them both to rot, and instead having Oscar teach me how to use a sword more effectively. Not that I would ever admit that to anyone's face. For one thing I would do well not to offend wizards and men who commune with fire. For another, Oscar would almost certainly take me up on it.

Ok, time for a bit of exposition.

Pyromancy would be the art of manipulating the power of fire within all organic life, but usually my own. It works by 'asking' the pyromancy flame to do stuff for you. Now that wouldn't be a problem if it understood speech, but sadly nothing is ever that easy. One asks by manipulating it via certain fields of power. That was almost the end of it right there, but after I had pumped the soul power I had collected the party in the depths into my… spirit… power… stuff, I found that perceiving the fields went from impossible to merely difficult. After I got the hang of it, Laurentius showed me a few simple 'words' I decided to try one. That's where my problems started.

Paraphrasing what he said, I was using a flame born from Laurentius' soul. Now the only way to get a flame is to get it from someone else, but over time it merges with your own soul, and thus becomes significantly easier to use. Said merging often takes years.

So I was left with a monkeys paw. Make no mistake; it did as I told it to. My problem was that it would look for loopholes. If I used 'Burst', which was how I thought of the 'word' to cast Combustion, the flame would indeed burst, and set something on fire. The issue I had was that the ignited object would, nine times out of ten, be me. My teacher thought it was hilarious, but showed me ways to 'point' the flame to a proper target. Things started working a bit better after that, but I still had to be really precise or it would find some way of making me suffer. Speaking the word as I shaped it in the flame seemed to help a little too.

In the end, I decided that the only pyromancies that I'd find useful and I could consistently use without risking my life in combat would be Carmina's self-realization spells. Anything else was more likely to backfire on me, and should only be used while near a bonfire. Just to keep in practice.

Magic, was a different, if similar beast. It was divided into three parts; Manipulating the magic field as in pyromancy, fueling it with your own power reservoir, and an incantation.

The magical field manipulation was what I had considered the easy part, and had surprised Griggs. Unlike pyromancy, you didn't ask the magical power to do stuff for you. Instead, you needed to create a matrix that you filled with your own power. The upshot was that you never had a truly malevolent force looking for ways to screw you over. The bad part was that these fields were often incredibly complex and getting merely 'close' would net you a completely different effect entirely. This was the part that I was fairly good at.

The next part was fueling the spell. This is the part that Griggs said was the easiest, which is fine if you've been raised in an environment where pouring your energy out in mystical essence was the norm. I still haven't figured out how to do this in any significant amount to do anything, though I suspect that it's similar to pouring out souls for reinforcement. Just… less instinctive. I might try that once I'm feeling more up to scuff, but I don't feel like blowing myself up right now.

Griggs had no idea why I am having issues with that part. I suspect it has something to do with not having interacted with magic at all before these lessons.

The final part was the incantation. This was pure memory, and like the matrix part, it had to be borderline perfect. Griggs showed me an example of why you needed to do so of course. Just last night in fact. The first time he said the spell perfectly, and unleashed a soul arrow that shattered a good sized rock. The second time, he slurred the word a tiny bit. The end result involved creating an effigy of magic that promptly tried to kill us. It probably would have succeeded if Oscar hadn't decided on our third lap around the camp that enough was enough and destroyed it by smashing it with his shield.

Oddly, the only time I had really interacted with them after I had gotten back was with lessons. In fact, now that I was pressured in my own mind, my lessons were the only time they interacted with anybody. I might need to try and break down a few social barriers at some point.

But still, back to the present.

"Fine." Petrus stated, and I could sense his shrug "Lay about. However, lady Reah has arrived, so if you can't get off the ground and make yourself presentable at least have the decency to try to stay out of sight." I heard footsteps leaving.

Screw yo- Wait Reah? Wasn't she supposed to show up only after one of the bells was rung?

I sat up quickly. While not unwelcome, Reah was not a variable that I wanted to deal with right now. It seemed that I would have little choice however.

"Don't listen to Petrus." A far more sympathetic –and welcome- voice broke that train of thought. "You have been working hard at learning two crafts that it takes years to learn." Oscar thumped down next to me, "Admittedly, much of that is the meditation required to build the power for it. You have been working hard at learning them however."

I made a face, "Stop trying to make me feel better. You suck at it." Both Laurentius and Griggs had noted that while I was fairly good at some parts of each craft, I was still much worse at it over all then any acolyte they had seen. Functionally, my crossbow was still my best and most reliable weapon.

"Apologies." The knight bowed his head "Perhaps you should consider honing the skills that you have, rather than learning new ones." He looked up with a wicked sparkle in his eye "That is, if you don't consider your lessons are going well."

I ignored that little jib at the end and considered the rest of what he said. The pyromancies I could use reliably were self-realization. Perhaps I should ask Griggs if we could turn our attention to fortifying magics if there was such a thing, rather than the offensive ones. I didn't think that was what Oscar meant however.

"You think I should just work with my crossbow?" I asked.

"Yes." The knight shifted so he could look me in the eye. "From what Laurentius has told me, you do well avoiding direct confrontation." He raised a hand to stall anything I might say, "I believe that you should still practice the more arcane arts, and do some work on learning the sword as well. Yet the skills that will serve you best are the ones that you are already familiar with."

He had a point. I had gotten all worked up about blowing stuff up with godly magical power that I hadn't fully considered the fact that maybe I it would be hard to get to that level. It did raise other questions though, "Ok, I get that, but where am I going to find the time to keep practicing everything?"

He nodded ", I suggest limiting practice to strictly practical application. I have listened to the theory and the book learning that Griggs is pushing on you. Much of that is unnecessary for what you will be using. Laurentius has given you a stable base to work with, but lately has been simply giving you history lessons. Use that time you would be studying interesting, yet ultimately pointless trivia to learn swordplay and practice with your crossbow." He gave a wry smile, "You yourself have mentioned that you are not yet suited for the task at hand, so we will begin our travels once you are."

Just the way he said that last sentance sounded ominous. He was no doubt right though. I wasn't ready to go fighting creepy monsters yet, and it didn't look like magic and pyromancy would be the easy ticket to victory I had hoped for.

"I believe that we should take a brief audience with the lady Reah." Oscar said thoughtfully.

Wait, what? "Ok, where did that came from?"

He chuckled and shook his head "Apologies. I was simply musing" He gave me a look that I was afraid to read much into, "The good lady is resting here before she attempts to retrieve something from the catacombs. It occurred to me that perhaps the best training would be a trial by fire."

I stared at him.

"Do not look at me like that." Oscar scolded gently, "It would give you much more practical training then I could give you, and with no less than three temple knights of Thorolund in addition to us the danger should be minimal." He gave a slight smile. "Of course it should help ease your mind that the necromancers and their minions are exactly the type of enemies that I was trained to destroy."

I closed my eyes. The necromancers weren't the worst things that lay beneath the graveyard, but how to tell him that? On the other hand, I could head off patches. That would prevent the major issues that happened to this crew in the game. Oscar had a point too, his weapon was made for this and he was easily the most lethal person here. Factor all that with the simple fact that I can stop us from delving too far and hitting the Tomb of the Giants, and virtually all the huge problems should be dealt with. Basically, this should be easy soul reaping.

So why do I have a horrible feeling about this?

Oscar obviously noticed my continued misgivings, "What is it that is worrying you?"

"I couldn't tell you." And it's true. I didn't really know myself. "Just a bad feeling."

He looked as though he was seriously considering my reason, which puzzled me. Then I remembered the results of all the other 'feelings' I had. I saved his life, I rescued Laurentius, and I had stuck around long enough to pick up Griggs as well. He must be mistaking this for like those times that I actually knew what was coming.

"Can you pinpoint the source of your unease?" He said finally.

I shook my head. "Sorry. The only thing I've got is that it would be a bad thing our group to go down there."

"I doubt that they will take your that warning seriously without more to go on that that." Oscar noted, "I however, will. We will delay for a few days. Alberich," he saw the look of confusion on my face immediately, "The warrior in chainmail, mentioned a smith below; perhaps he will repair our equipment." He clasped me by the shoulder, "In the meantime, we shall destroy as many hollows as possible, and take the souls to the hag in the aqueduct." He pointed to the structure that I had journeyed through two weeks ago. "I took the liberty of investigating her wares after you mentioned her. She does carry bolts, though the price is abhorrently expensive."

"Well I can't complain about the price if it's a resource I really need." The fact that Oscar was taking my foreboding so seriously felt somewhat awkward for me, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't glad

A thought suddenly struck me "does she have cloth for sale?" If she did, it was possible that I could use it to muffle the noise of my mail shirt.

The knight nodded.

"Do you think that-" I had to check myself from saying Rickert's name, as I couldn't know it yet, "the blacksmith would be too averse to muffling the armour after he repairs it?"

"I certainly hope so." Oscar said, "While such precautions probably will not help in this outing, it certainly won't hurt in the future." He smiled, "I'm glad that you are considering your set of skills."

Plans made, and precautions agreed on, we decided it might be best to inform Reah that we would be tagging along for the ride.

I shed my armour, and rearmed myself before we went to talk to the clerical party. Quite frankly my armour looked terrible, and I wanted to make a fairly good first impression. Oscar saw what I was doing and followed suit, revealing a pale blue doublet and white pants. My best guess was that the pants were made of wool, which made sense because anything lighter probably would have cause horrible chaffing. There was also a great deal of embroidery. I wasn't too tempted to laugh at the fire warding heraldry on his doublet, but the stylized birds on the pants were a little much. In my plain grey vest, black cotton shirt and dark blue lined pants, I felt rather plain next to him. Not that I would ever be caught dead wearing anything so fancy.

Looking slightly more respectable, we proceeded towards the back of the ruins where Petrus tended to stay. On our way past, we saw the crestfallen warrior –Alberich I reminded myself- chatting with Laurentius. Well it was nice to see that he at least was socializing. We didn't pass close enough to hear what they were saying, but judging from Laurentius' wild arm movements, followed by Alberich's laughter I had a fairly good guess as to what they were talking about. It wasn't my fault that the sadist flame decided that I looked particularly flammable, despite my surcoat.

We made the rest of our short walk without any other events.

The clerical crew was just as they were in game, though slightly more active. Petrus was leaning up against a wall, listing the supplies they supposedly had while Vince and Nico stood by the stairs confirming each item on the list. Reah was kneeling just past them, and I could faintly hear her voice in either prayer or reading scripture.

I slowed my pace slightly so Oscar would get there first. Petrus didn't like me too much, and the feeling was mutual. It was very possible that his outlook could colour his cohorts' view, so best leave the diplomatic stuff to the noble whose word carried some clout. Besides which, judging from how much of Reahs plans Oscar seemed to know, it was possible that he was a familiar face. Yes it was probably best if I kept my part in the discussion to a minimum.

"How goes the packing for the expedition?" Oscar inquired.

Petrus looked up from his list, "Quite well my lord, thank you." He glanced over at me and visibly seemed to be biting back a remark, "I see that your companion has decided to join you." He said instead.

"Indeed." Oscar stated with just a hint of dryness "We have decided that it might be best if we went with you on your expedition."

That got Reahs attention, "Did you not have your own quest my lord?" she stood, and turned towards us. I saw a book in her hand, so I guess that answered the reading or prayer question.

Oscar nodded, "We do, however it is a journey that would be eased by the aid of others." He inclined his head slightly towards the clerical party "doubly so by the aid of holy church knights, and your own gifts."

"Miracles are not my gifts, my lord" Reah said, with just a hint of coolness "but the gifts of the gods."

"I believe he was referring more towards you unwavering faith, and dedication" I interjected. Perhaps Oscar wasn't as much of a diplomat as I had thought. Oscar caught on quickly and nodded.

Reah went utterly scarlet, "Apologies milord. Forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive my lady." Oscar said quietly, catching on quickly. "That is just one more sign of your faith."

"Regardless," I said, attempting to head off the digression before it got too far, "We're getting into some dark and dangerous stuff. Working together we have a much better chance of getting through it then going alone."

"So you say," One of Reahs bodyguards –I wasn't sure if it was Nico or Vince- said slowly, "And while Lord Oscar would certainly be helpful in our quest, what do you have to offer?"

Getting all of us out in one piece? Luckily Oscar came to my rescue, "He excels with a crossbow, and notably his armour is of the same quality and make as mine" he thumped me on the shoulder. "He also gets things done, which is more than I can say for myself unfortunately."

I'll note that no one else seemed that convinced, and really I couldn't blame them. Oscar seemed to have a fairly optimistic outlook in regards to my capabilities, probably due to my saving his life. Now I'll admit killing a butcher made me feel like a bit of a badass but keeping a realistic for a moment, that was an outlier. That predatory part that had taken control hadn't shown up since then, and I hadn't been able to recapture that focus deliberately.

Still, realistic wasn't going to fly here, and nothing I could say would help my case. "Look, if you all think I'll be a liability then I'll stay behind." Oscar stared at me, and I gave him a look in return, "What? You might have confidence enough in my abilities, but if they are too busy keeping an eye on me then everybody is going to die. Regardless of how good you personally might be"

Oscar frowned, "Why should anyone feel the need to watch you? Is my word not enough recommendation?" I had to check the urge to burry my face in my hands. Oscar was intelligent, but it seemed that when it came to stuff like this he was surprisingly thick. That said, he was an expert swordsman, and the church knights shifted uncomfortably mildly worried that they might have offended him. I had to wonder if Astora had duels over matters of honor.

Reah for her part looked thoughtful, "Why do you put such trust in him milord?" There was no condemnation there; no doubt that I wasn't worth trusting, she just wanted to know what I had done to earn that trust. It was a little bit humbling actually. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, she was a priestess, and she probably got where she was by running on blind faith and devotion to her religion.

Oscar glanced at me and hesitated, "He saved my life, and he saved the lives of two other people in the encampment." He sighed raggedly, "The significant part is that no one could have known where we were, or how much danger we were in. He was guided by a hunch, each time." He chuckled, " I guess I really should be more skeptical, yet three for three… it is somewhat difficult to argue with."

"I'll note," I said hastily, before anyone thought that I was some sterling knight, "That I did most of the saving through guile, cleverness and more than my share of luck." I regained my composure, "I'm not really hero material, but I try and do the best I can with what I have, and I trust my instincts." And the more likely of my foreknowledge to be just game mechanics.

Petrus nodded stiffly, "The guidance of the gods comes to those who need it, regardless of their faith." Ok, I knew he meant that in the belief sense, but everyone else took 'faith' to mean 'religion'. I won't lie, despite having decided that I couldn't assume he was the scum here that he was in the game, I sort of hoped he was. Then I could stab him, and not have everyone think I was a basket case. Still, I guess I couldn't object, as the other clerics seemed to reconsider their stance on me.

"If the gods have decided on you as their tool, how can we object?" the knight who has spoken earlier intoned. I guess it was Nico, since Vince wasn't too talkative if I remember right. I also wasn't too sure on how I felt to be called a tool. Even if he didn't mean it in the same way someone from my world would.

"Then its settled," Oscar said happily, "We will need a few days to prepare. Our armour needs repairs, and we need bolts to keep his crossbow fed. In addition, we should collect any information about the catacombs that we can."

"I agree entirely," Petrus noted, "We could use a few more supplies as well. I take it you know of a blacksmith, and merchant nearby?"

"I know of the merchant; however it is Alberich that knows of the blacksmith." Oscar said. "I suggest we go speak to him for more information."

"Indeed we should," Petrus beckoned to the two other knights, "Come, gather up all of our weapons, and any other equipment that has been damaged by the journey."

Like good little drones, they did as he said, then followed Oscar to where we saw Alberich chatting with Laurentius, then I'd assume to where we and Oscar left our armour and gear. I dunno for sure, I more or less stopped caring too much when they turned out of sight.

Instead, I turned my attention toward Reah.

"I trust the delays aren't going to be a problem?" Seeing as how it was her show regardless of what the knights thought, I best at least see what her opinion was, "A few days is probably an optimistic guess. We will need to collect enough souls for supplies, and that isn't even taking into account how long it will be for our armour to get fixed, or covering the cost of that either."

"I am anxious to get started," she admitted, "However it would be dangerous to proceed without everyone being ready for the challenges ahead."

"I'm not sure we can prepare for what's ahead." I said softly. I don't know what it was, but I felt that it wasn't fair to her if I didn't tell my misgivings. I guess it made sense in a twisted way; if things went south she was the one who would lose the most.

"Do you know something?" She asked sharply. I winced inwardly at the accusing look on her face.

I knew plenty, but knowing didn't fill me with this dread that the catacombs seemed to bring, but how do I get that across without revealing too much? "Nothing that I can really explain. I do have a really bad feeling about it though." I looked her in the eye. "Oscar knows, and that is why he is taking the steps he is. But I'm not convinced that any of that is going to make this dread go away."

"Perhaps it is just the dread of going into the home of necromancers?" She seemed to recall the hunches Oscar had talked about, and didn't seem convinced by her own words.

Still though, I had cast enough foreboding over this affair and I grabbed that guess happily "That could certainly be it." In fact, the more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Dark, cramped, tight areas were hardly my favorite places to begin with, and knowing that it was a genuine necromancer nest was none too comforting either. "It probably is in fact."

She still didn't seem convinced, even though I half was, "Yes."

That seemed to end any threads of conversation we might have, so before things got too awkward, I turned to leave her to her scripture. "I'll let you get back to your book"

Her head bobbed out of the corner of my eye, "Yes. Be well, Vereor Nox."

"I'd like to, Reah," I said behind me as I walked away, "But fearing the dark never saved anyone from what lurked within."


	5. Deaths Domain Part One

So yeah. Its not dead, but i haven't had time to write and get updated for a while.

Once again I repeat my disclaimer; I only own my copy of Dark Souls, and From software owns the IP.

* * *

><p>I figured out my I was feeling nervous about going into the catacombs. It was due to some little things that I already knew in the back of my mind.<p>

Like how a crossbow is not a hard weapon to use; it's just as point and shoot deal like a gun, especially at short range. Yes, longer shots take skill and knowledge of the effects of gravity on the bolt. It's also easier to take the shot when you can see clearly. Time to line up a shot is wonderful too. It also helps when the thing you are sticking the bolt into has vital organs, or a nervous system. Yes, like every single thing I've had to deal with up until this point.

Another thing is how I generally don't know what I'm doing when it comes to swordplay. Oscar taught me enough that I wasn't about to be killed by a brainless hollow, yes, but despite his assurances that I was a brilliant learner and making very good progress it was clear to me that I was still very much a novice. Lack of skill aside, I'd like to think I might have been able to hold my own if I had vital organs, or a nervous system to stick my sword into.

Yes, as I've noted before, like everything I've dealt with up until this point.

The skeleton strafed around me slowly, tentatively. My armor -repaired and muffled by Rickert's fine hand- was better than it could reasonably cut through with its light sabre. My shield was also something of a problem for it I was sure, though hardly its biggest issue as the stinging cut on my left leg could attest. It lunged at me, and I sidestepped. It expected that, and had its shield up to defend against my riposte.

What it didn't expect was for my chosen attack to be a small explosion, courtesy of my pyromancy flame nested in my shield hand. The force scattered the bones, and left my arm and hand aching and seared from the expected backlash. Feeling rather proud of myself for not setting myself on fire for once, I turned to go help Oscar with the group he was dueling.

Then I heard the clattering and scraping sound.

Turning back around regretfully, I saw the blackened cracked bones gather together again, before reassembling themselves. It leaned forward a bit a chittered its teeth at me. I got back into my fighting stance, when Oscar brushed past me.

Wait. Wasn't he just-?

Oscars blade lashed out almost casually, and with a flash of white gold light the Skeleton was reduced to dust and ash.

I slumped.

"That… That's not fair." I knew that the weapon was pretty decent, but that was… "That's not fair at all!"

Oscar shrugged and gave a short laugh. "My blade is bless'd, No minion of the Dark can hope to stand against it." He hit me lightly on the shoulder, "That was the last of them. Now come, the necromancer that sustained them is still at large."

I nodded, probably a little sullenly judging from his chuckle, and proceeded to follow him. Reah had panicked at the skeletons rising around us in the dark, and Nico had understandably led her away from the combat. I grimaced inwardly. Honestly, I'd done some panicking myself, and the only reason I wasn't hot on their heels at the time was that I was cut off by the bones.

They were a lot less scary in the light of day up in the graveyard proper. Still, I set my shoulders. This was the easy part. I wasn't about to run back to firelink-

The glowing sparks of a few skulls embedded in the wall followed me as I walked past.

-Mostly because I was safer cowering behind Oscar then hoofing it back to the shrine.

We caught up to the Way of the White disciples in a room with a pair of halls in it, one of which was being blocked a short ways down by a carved slab. Reah had been given enough time to calm down. Vince, on the other hand, had managed to get himself worked up.

Incidentally, I was wrong in my memory of which one was which earlier. It was a little thing, but it bears mentioning. If i'm losing the little things, how long until I lost something more important or-

No. Stay on target. There night be something important i could glean.

The young cleric rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry about that milords, but, well… Lady Reah has never been exposed to any sort of threat like this before. She's been so sheltered." He continued rambling, "It was my fault, I just couldn't bear the thought of her getting hur-"

"T'is fine Vince," Oscar chuckled, before he continued on more seriously, "Though I must say, I would have appreciated it if that had been mentioned earlier. There are gentler ways of growing accustomed to the battlefield then a tomb full of necromancers. Experience is going to be the only way she will learn to cope however."

"It's early on yet." Petrus murmured, "We could take Reah back to firelink, then continue on unimpeded. Let the girl gain experience some other time. Right now she is hardly helpful to our cause."

Nope, guess not.

Oscar frowned, and opened his mouth to say something, but by that point I stopped paying attention. It was pretty clear that they weren't going to get anywhere any time soon. You'd think they would be a bit more concerned with the deadites. Of course, considering they got obliterated in groups if Oscar so much as pointed his sword in their general direction…

Shaking off my feelings of inadequacy, I turned my attention towards something more practical matters. Like killing a Necromancer and putting a bit of fire into our resident priestess. I was fairly sure that those problems could solve each other.

Maybe. Or I could get us killed in a messy and unseemly way.

I quietly walked over to Reah and touched her shoulder to get her attention, "How are you feeling?" It was a clumsy conversation starter, but anything would work at the moment.

She jumped and looked quickly up at me before looking away again. She then whispered something inaudible, but it sounded a bit pleading. 'Leave me be' perhaps?

Yeah, OK. I will take your feelings into account and leave you in- how about no.

Sorry lady. Normally I wouldn't be _this_ dickish, but the group as a whole could wind up falling down a flight of cutlasses and death magic at any given moment. Time to hurt your pride so you'll actually _do_ something.

"You're going to have to speak up. I can't hear you over the sound of your snivelling and self-loathing" I snorted, "If you can't cope, then I'm sure your knights will oblige on taking you back home."

That got her attention, and she glared at me, "I am an undead Cleric. I have my mission."

"If you can't deal with a few bags of bones popping up, how can you think you can finish what you have set out to do? In case you haven't guessed, this is easy mode right now. The further we go, the worse it's going to get." I retorted, "This isn't like whatever coven you've spent your life in. If you don't pull your own weight, someone is going to get killed trying to pick up your slack."

That last phrase hit her like one of Gwyns lightning spears. I continued, so as not to lose my advantage.

"Vince wants to wrap you up in a warm blanket, Petrus wants to take you back to Firelink, and Oscar wants to take his sword belt upside both the idiots' backsides, but he's too polite to say it." I continued slowly, "In case you didn't guess, accepting Vinces metaphorical warm blanket is probably going to get _him_ killed. You don't want that, do you?"

She shook her head fiercely, "No! Of course not!" She glared up at me again.

"I didn't think so." I nodded, "Petrus doesn't think you can handle it-"

As soon as I said those words, the look on her face told me I had said the wrong thing. Instantly she slumped, and more or less went back to the state she started the conversation in. I had to think fast, to salvage the situation.

"-But _Oscar_ is sure that you can."

She lifted her head at that. She glanced in the Astorans direction.

Do I see red on those cheeks? I think I see red on those cheeks. Was she sweet on him? That's _adorable_.

"I tend to agree with him." I continued, relishing the chance to play up this angle, "He is sure that you are a faithful cleric in your own right. He just thinks that you've been coddled a bit much." And now for the deal sealer, "He's been arguing for you to stay and prove that inner strength."

She watched the conversation the knights were having with interest. It was pretty clear I was telling the truth. He _was_ arguing for her to stick around. His thoughts on the matter were doubtlessly in regards to how this experience would be for the best. She had to prepare herself now for the dangers that lay ahead. I wasn't going to say anything more than that.

She watched them for a bit longer, before she looked back to me. "Let us deal with this servant of the dark.", Her voice quavered slightly with fear, but had a core of solid resolve.

Checkmate.

I pulled the girl to her feet, and then punched Nico lightly in the shoulder to draw his attention off the conversation. I gestured for him to follow, then started down the longer hall, Reah padding along behind.

"So, the Necromancer will probably have a few skeletons in the room with him. They may or may not be armed, but we're going to assume that they are." I began, quietly, so as not to alert anything ahead of time. "They are going to be the most difficult things to deal with. That's your job Reah."

"What?" She squeaked. Obviously she hadn't expected me to throw her to the forefront of the action like that, "B-but I don't have any experience in-!"

"Do you know the miracle Emit Force?" I didn't give her time to finish. Hell, if I had my way, I wouldn't give her time to think too much. She was committed, I don't think that she would run, but I didn't want her having second thoughts and freezing up.

That would be bad.

She paused for a moment, "Yes, I learned in from a man from Catarina before we arrived at Firelink Shrine." Her voice was somewhat shaky, but had regained that all important resolve.

"Good. Once we confirm the room where the Corpse Raiser is, you will cast that through the opening."

I glanced behind me in time to see her bob her head, eyes still wide. "Y-yes."

"That," I un-slung my Crossbow and begin loading it, "Should buy me the time to line up a shot. The only magic trick it will be pulling will be sprouting wood from its forehead. Dead Necromancer-"

"Dead skeletons." Nico grunted.

"Nico is here to help me block the door in case I miss." I wasn't a sure shot after all, I just chose not to dwell on my misses. I tried not to think about at all if i was honest. "Even if I don't score a kill, it's pretty hard to do anything other than scream in pain when a nutjob sticks a length of wood in you."

Reah gave a nervous titter, and Nico let out a hearty chuckle.

I won't lie. I was feeling much more nervous that I was letting either of the see. Nico seemed to accept that I knew what I was doing, and my plan to seemed to reassure him of that. Reah was wide eyed and terrified, but to her credit had her talisman in hand and was reciting something under her breath. I was willing to bet that her miracle working wasn't the only thing she was praying about.

Still, after another minute and we hit the end of the hall. A crack in the wall on the right was big enough to fit through fairly comfortably, so I peeked through carefully. Didn't want to give us away before it was time after all.

I pulled back my head and mouthed a curse. I had expected skeletons, but not nearly as many as there were. I didn't have my head in the door for long enough to make out details, but there was clearly one bulky robed figure, and quite a few bone white ones.

Well, at least I could take a bit of consolation in the fact that Emit Force had a bit of an area to it. I just hoped that it would be enough.

Not wanting to risk delaying any more, I pointed at Reah, then pointed at the door. As she moved into position, I pinned my back to the end of the hall. Nico stood right behind Reah, ready to pull her out of my way at a moment's notice.

It was go-time

Reah threw her hands up and recited the Miracles passage faster than I could follow, and then released it into the centre of the room. Half a second later, I felt a wave of intense pressure that made my vision go dark. Then a loud, horrifying noise. Once my vision came back a moment later, I was greeted by debris, dust, and the _wall on the right side of the hallway suddenly missing_.

Holy. Shit.

Blinking and ears rinning, I stepped over the startled girl and quietly cursing clerical knight as they untangled themselves. Dust was still hanging in the air, and I held my Crossbow tentatively at the ready. As the air cleared, I could see that the room had been completely totalled, and what looked like red paint coating the back wall. The other walls were cracked, and I could see dirt slowly pouring through where the stone had been blown away.

I turned to look at Reah incredulously.

She just went scarlet, and gave a little silent cough.

"Just letting you know" I said, my voice sounding really faint and quiet, "You don't get to use the 'I'm an innocent helpless maiden' thing anymore."

She went even redder, "I-It was the Gods power, not mine." She mouthed.

I turned back to the rubble, "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of my raging inadequacy."

Slowly the sound started to return. Predictably, said sound was shouting. Reah clearly hadn't been deafened in the first place, as she turned down the hall and yelled something that I still couldn't quite make out.

I could see just fine though, and Vince's worried expression was the first that I saw coming out of the shadows. After a brief pause to look around, he went straight to Reah and began babbling out worried questions. Oscar and Petrus strode through the murk shortly after. I couldn't see Oscars face, but Petrus was looking less than pleased.

Ok, seriously. One necromancer, and his room full of lackeys. I'm pretty sure any of the knights could have dealt with it by themselves. Oscar certainly could have, Petrus probably could have, and Nico wasn't exactly freaking out at the concept of facing the bone-heads either. Had I just taken Nico, I'm sure that we would have just gotten light praise at taking the initiative. Never mind that it probably would have turned out much more difficult had I done so.

I think that this is agitating me slightly. Reah was, and is competent, and I'm about ninety percent sure that Nico would have punched me through the face had he thought that Reah was in any real danger.

Words slowly began to become clearer, and I begin to make out Vince and Reah's 'conversation' and… Oscar's chuckling? Well, at least someone is amused.

"…-eem to have made something of a mess through you then, Milady." I finally caught, hidden beneath Vince's fretting.

"Y-yes." Reah stammered. "I did not think that they would grant such power to aid one such as I."

"I told you that you didn't get to use that helpless maiden shtick anymore." I grumbled.

"What were you thinking, risking the lady like that?" Petrus grunted, looking at me coldly "She could have been killed. Do you have any idea-"

Ok, I've just been dragged into a terrifying crypt -that I've been very pointedly trying to not concentrate on so I don't freak out-, to fight skeletons and necromancers. I can't even put down the damn Skeletons for good. I, of all people, know how dangerous that this place is. I am the only person in the group at the moment that doesn't have a way to deal with the most common things we are likely to deal with. I'm well aware -more than anyone else here- what may or may not be lurking down here. Still, I took a breath, and forced myself to stay calm. Protecting Reah was his job, and despite having one of the clerical knights with me -which should absolve me of all of this hostility by the way, since Nico didn't object to my actions- I was still the one who took her away from the main group.

"-She is clearly not suited for this sort of fighting, and yet you put her right in the thick of it." He finished, "So what do you have to say for yourself?"

It might have be a little residual 'hollowness' from my last death. It might have been the stress of being cast as the bad guy despite having done the smart thing and dealt with a threat before it could build into something more dangerous. I might have just had enough of the condescending bull that was served up to me every time Petrus opened his mouth. It might even have been the raging hate I had for the sheer idiocy of people blatantly ignoring the devastation that 'innocent little girl' was capable of.

"Ok, no. 'What do I have to say for myself'?" I growled at him, "What I have to say for myself, you overbearing prick, is that Reah was in no danger. I expected Reah to eliminate the skeletons guarding the necromancer with a surprise attack, so I could put a Bolt into it without getting carved to pieces."

Petrus Scowl deepened, "Nothing ever goes the way we expect. There were a dozen things that could have gone wrong and-"

I stepped away from the wall and returned the glare petrus was giving me. "If that failed, Nico and myself would have been more than enough to block up the passage. Nico has a divine weapon -all of you do- so at the worst it would have been a waiting game until the deadties were finally put down. The Necromancer would have been easy pickings after that."

Vince had finally stopped his fretting over Reah, and listened to what was being said, though Nico was careful to keep between him and myself. I considered the thought prudent considering how hostile the other clerics' expression towards me was.

Petrus stood his ground though "What if the necromancer had joined in on the attack? I have nothing but respect for the wards of Astora, yet the magical flames such creatures conjure are fit to reduce a man to ash in an instant." He gestured at my worn surcoat, "How long would it hold under such an assault? And what of Nico, who has no such protection at all?"

"Even in the absolute worst case scenario of both me and Nico dying stupidly, we would have bought enough time for her to run back to where you were arguing." I ground my teeth a bit, "Then, Oscar could have ashed them like he did the others." I took deep breath to try and cool my rising anger, "Instead, Reah made all of that pointless by calling down the fury of your gods, and turned everything in the room to dust and bloody smears. She turned the room-" I gestured to the rubble around us, "-into dust and smears. My precautions were pointless. I was pointless. Nico was pointless."

Vince and Petrus glanced around, and seemed to truly notice the debris around us for the first time. I wasn't sure that they understood the sheer amount of power to would have taken to cause this kind of collateral.

"Taking all of that into account, please keep in mind that while I might be a dirty godless heathen, and I might be a little bit reckless, I am not, however, stupid. You all brought me along for a reason Petrus, and it certainly wasn't due to my crossbow or skill with a sword. Consider that, and perhaps trust in the judgement of your fellow knight." I finished by nodding at Nico, who simply grunted and nodded back.

"Indeed," Oscar said, preventing what would have no doubt been an awkward silence. "And now, let us continue." He turned to Petrus, "I trust that Lady Reah will indeed be continuing with us?"

"Err… yes." Petrus nodded, slowly, as if somewhat dumbstruck, "Yes, that might be wise."

"Objections, Vince?"

Vince looked for a moment like he was going to anyway, but buckled "No milord." He shot me a fiery glare, "Not so long as she remains close."

"Well!" Oscar clapped his hands together, "Now that that is done, let us see if we can find the entrance to the catacombs proper."

"I believe that the stone plate in the room we were having our discussion in would be the gate." Petrus noted, "Perhaps there is a mechanism to open it?"

Well, there was a way in from what i remembered in the game, and it would make some sense if you considered it an extension of the graveyard. But then, why have an above ground graveyard in the first place? Something didn't make sense here, but i couldn't put my finger on it.

"I'm not entirely sure there will be." I noted. "Why would anyone bother to bury anything up top if there is a convenient way in?"

"The gods may be inclined to open the way." Reah said quietly.

Oscar nodded, "It may come to that. However, let us see if Petrus' mechanism exists before we go troubling them." He patted me on the shoulder, "Come. We can cover more ground if we split up."

I noticed... something in his voice, and I nodded confirmation. I turned to the rest of the group, "Meet back in front of the stone plate if no one finds anything?"

A chorus of grudging assents, then me and Oscar left the clerics to pick through the rubble.

Silence followed for a couple of minutes as we walked. It was becoming increasingly clear that Oscar didn't really think there was a mechanism either, but he wanted to talk to me away from the group.

Why he wanted a private conversation was also becoming increasingly clear. It also agitated me. I made a bit of a show picking around looking for a device, and he did the same. Still, we couldn't hold it off forever.

"You're going to chastise me." I growled at him.

He nodded, "I am going to chastise you. But not for the reasons you think."

"Oh?" Seriously. What did i do wrong there?

"First, let me say that I approve of you taking the initiative. I approve of you being careful and taking Nico. I'm not sure I approve of you taking a non-combatant into a dangerous situation without more backup, but I am certainly not going to argue the results." Oscar sighed, and leaned up against, "Indeed, what you did was objectively correct given the circumstances. It was a rational decision, and indeed solved several problems."

"So where did i screw up then? Because we wouldn't be having this discussion otherwise." I asked. I won't lie, I just wanted him to get to the point. I knew it was a good move, though I didn't know how good it was at the time, but stoking my ego wasn't exactly the point of being chewed out.

"To the point then." Oscar said, "The problem is that people of seldom rational, and while it was a good move in regards to usage of our assets, it was a poor one for diplomacy and group cohesion."

He continued, "You have not made yourself Vince's friend. In addition, you have also undercut Petrus' authority." He sighed, "Finaly, while bringing along Nico was an excellent move tactically, it also means that he could be seen as an accomplice to any of the perceived crimes of yours." He fiddled with a few straps, "I do not think that will be the case, but the possibility is on the table."

I frowned, "Ok, really?" I shook my head "I don't seriously think that anyone could be that stupid."

"Not all of us can be forces of rationality." Oscar noted, "And those afflicted with brotherly love can be less rational them most under the best of circumstances."

I hadn't thought of that. I should have, I've seen plenty of people act like idiots for the dumbest reasons, but I'd more or less assumed that i was dealing with intelligent people here-

No, I was dealing with intelligent people. That's not the problem. The problem was that I'm dealing with people in general. Something that is surprisingly hard to remember when the people you're surrounded by technically aren't suppose to exist. Hell, its hard enough for me to remember when I was dealing with people period. When its at the front of my mind I do alright, but otherwise... I guess avoiding social activity because its hard wasn't my best call.

Not that being in a crypt was doing anything for my thought processes of course, but that just makes the underlying causes worse.

"I'm... Not terribly great with people." I admit quietly, "I work better when I'm left to my own devices."

"I'm beginning to note that pattern myself." Oscar said gently, "T'is strange. You were able to cover my own slip back at firelink, yet..."

"I made a pretty colossal goof here?" I snorted, "Easy to explain. Reah's devout, and honestly too humble for her own good. When she got huffy about the miracles thing, I put her on the spot with something that made sense." I adjusted my own straps, "Conversation's are _easy_. One can react to the reactions, and with a bit of wordplay can change the meaning, or clarify, or feign having used the wrong words. _Doing_ stuff with people is much harder, because I can't see the reactions until its too late, and I can't exactly say that I accidentally made off with Reah to fight deadites."

"Indeed, and much harder to apologize for, especially when you have truly done nothing wrong but offend sensibilities." Oscar noted, before changing the subject, "I do not see anything that may constitute a gate mechanism. Perhaps we should rejoin the clerics?"

"Probably." I agree, letting him do so gratefully, "I just want to get this mess over with as soon as possible. I hate this place."

Upon returning, we found that the clerics didn't have any more luck then we did.

"Nothing." Petrus grunted, "Unless you found something?"

Oscar shook his head, "I am afraid not." he looked at Reah, "I hope that the gods will be willing to aid."

Reah didn't bother with words. She just turned towards the object in our way and started her prayer.

No thanks, i want to keep my eardrums. I started stalking quickly down one of the hallways. Nico clued in right away, and followed at a brisk pace.

"Where are you going!" Vince yelled after us, "You'd best not be getting into mischief!"

I briefly considered the idea of warning people of the dangers of being in an enclosed space with what amounts to a bomb, then decided it would take long enough that I'd wind up in the blast zone. "We're not going far." I tossed off behind me "We'll be back after Reah's door knocker."

If that wasn't enough of a warning, they deserved everything they got. I covered my ears before the thunderclap drowned everything from the rest of the group out.

"That was cruel." Nico murmured once the echoes had subsided.

"I didn't see you give 'em any warning." I riposted before doubling back.

Maybe Oscar had a point about my lack of diplomacy skills being an issue. And maybe i was just a little petty. Still, they should have clued in that anything that could cause the level of devastation we wanted was probably going to be loud.

The knights were in a pretty sorry state. It was pretty clear from the way he had face planted that only Oscar had decided that I had bailed for a reason, but he reacted to slowly to escape. Reah, for her part, was alternating giving me baleful looks for not acknowledging that this was the gods work not hers, and apologizing profusely to the downed warriors.

Myself and Nico were sure to remain carefully stoic. Hilarious as it was, laughing at ones superiors -be it via combat skill or organization- wasn't exactly a clever move.

More seriously, the blast did what it was supposed to do. The metal plate itself was still intact, but the stone around it had broken away enough that we could squeeze through.

I glanced at the armor the clerical knights were using.

Make that, me, Oscar, and Reah could slip through, and the rest of our party could work away at it.

"You could have warned us." Oscar grumbled as he stumbled up behind me, "You knew exactly what was going to happen."

"Honestly," Pffffft no, "You guys knew what she was about to do. And since you came running after you heard a loud noise, I thought you'd put two and two together."

"I did, but not soon enough." The Astoran shook out the cobwebs. "Reah does not get to use the innocent maiden ploy anymore. Lass is a walking force of nature when she wants to be"

"That, is exactly what I've been saying." I agreed. "Vince and Petrus are still going to buy it though, I'm sure."

"Vince certainly." Oscar said softly, "Petrus I am less sure about."

While the clerical party was picking themselves out of the dirt, Oscar and I investigated the gap. We discovered that my assessment was acurate.

Well... sort of.

We couldn't fit through as is, but enough of the area was cracked that our hole in the wall could be widened. It took us a few minutes, but eventually we made the opening big enough for us to fit through. Petrus, Nico, and Vince were going to have to either strip out of their armor, or open the gap even more though.

What they decided didn't concern me at the moment though. I wanted to get an idea of what we were creeping into. "I'm going to slip through, and take a looksy at what we're dealing with."

Oscar nodded slowly, "Be careful, I'll wait here in case something tries to get at our friends while they are occupied."

I wasn't sure if I considered any of the clerics 'friends' per say. Maybe Nico. Regardless, I nodded and moved as quietly as possible through the gloom.

I hate tombs. Yes, I've said it before. Several times in fact, but it needs repeating.

The walls had a strange cracked look to them, and they were covered with racks of skulls. The various individual crypts were broken down, and caskets had clearly been broken into for the corpses within. Place was like it came straight out of a horror B movie set. Except, you know, actually scary since it was real, reeked and was not a damn B movie set.

It was probably inappropriate to the situation, but i started humming the Ode to Joy quietly. Easy song to remember, and its happy music, which is a huge plus.

Allowing the music to calm me down, I continued to take stock of my surroundings. Something bothered me though. The place really was reminiscent of a twisted movie set. The racks clearly weren't integrated with the architecture, and the walls themselves looked strangely bare save for the cracked effect.

Almost like the place was unfinished, or maybe-

...Maybe. Need o take a closer look.

The racks were cobbled together from rotted wood, rough stone, and what looked like dried tendons. They were grisly, and seemed pretty flimsy too. Like they were just thrown up, and used without worrying about stability or asthetics. I couldn't figure out what the purpose of them was.

Wait. Necromancers work with skeletons, not zombies. I guess they'd need something to put the body parts on so they could- Nope, not going there. I don't feel like making myself sick by continuing on that train of thought. The smell all but confirmed it for me though.

Moving on to the walls. I noticed that on closer inspection, were made of marble, and the 'cracks' seemed to make some sort of design. There were black flecks inside the cracks too, though the grooves had been cleared out pretty well. Perhaps a legitimate artistic touch that had been defiled, rather then a horrible abomination? Glancing over the rest of the walls revealed that if that were the case, it would have been one hell of an undertaking.

The two things didn't jive. Of course, all that told me was that the necromancers were horrible squatters and the filigree told me that bodies weren't the only thing they were looting.

I took a moment to look over the place, and mentally blot out the racks and imagine what the catacombs might have looked like before their current residents. I could make out streets, and there the various tombs lined the walls similar to houses in a populated area. It almost looked like it might have been...

No.

Maybe.

It looked like it might have been a city. I'll freely admit that given the context that Nito was one of the three lords that everyone knew about, it made sense. Gwyn had Anor Londo, and the Witch had her City of Izilith. Given that, Nito probably made this his equivalent.

A city for the dead.

The realization that I was trekking through what was probably one of Lordran's three greatest cities did nothing to sooth my nerves. In fact, I think it made it worse. Cities were big places, which means that I was going to be dealing with a veritable army of necromancers. Or something much, much worse.

I tried to come up with a song to shake the new cloud of unease, but everything i thought of just made it worse via dissonance, or worse because it was all too apt.

A clack of bone on stone broke me from my thoughts, and caused me to take cover behind a casket sticking off the wall. Once I had determined that whatever made the noise hadn't seen me, I peered around the stone. Three skeletons slowly stalked towards my location, their necromancer master holding a lantern crafted from a skull to illuminate the area.

I guess that Reah's door knocker called some of the inhabitants to to see who it was. If i tried to go back and warn the group they would see me for sure. If i just hid they'd _probably_ see me, and then I'd be in a bad position, and screwed.

Well, if I'm going to get found out anyway, I might as well be found on my terms.

Moving slowly enough not to start chinking I pulled my crossbow from its holster. One shot, then the bastards would know where I was. I drew a bolt, and my coin and heaved.

My eyes closed and my heart began to beat faster as I heard my armor click. Still, they didn't, and the string slipped over the catch. The bolt fell into place.

A more modern piece of music began floating through my mind. A steady rhythmic beat. My heart beat and breathing slowed to match the instrumental, and I brought the weapon up.

One shot.

I stepped around the corner, and dropped into a kneel. The Necromancer blinked at the shadow in front of it, startled. Just as I'd hoped. The shot wasn't a snapshot, but it wasn't that well aimed either, just a shot at the center of mass from about ten meters.

I didn't wait to confirm the kill, I just dropped the crossbow, and checked the impulse to draw my sword. I had something that would work on these things, but steel wasn't it.

The skeletons rushed forward, and I brought my shield up. Two of them blocked the third, and both of their sabre's harmlessly skittered over my barrier. My hand flashed up, and a burst of fire and force painfully erupted from it. All three Skeletons were caught in the blast, but only the two closest were scattered.

Still, it bought me time, and I slammed my shield into the last and drove past it to their master. The Necromancer writhed as it clutched the stub of wood sticking out of its body, but retained enough awareness to realize what was going on.

I pulled my right arm back, and wove the combustion matrix around my fist. The necromancer raised one of its arms and i felt a similar web forming around it. It was just a tad distracted though, and its matrix wasn't nearly as potent and it could have been.

Still almost as nasty as mine though. It was going to _hurt_.

The spear of flame that lanced from the summoners hand slammed into my shield arm like the fist of the butcher, and I bit back a yell. I was too close, and had too much momentum for it to stop my charge cold though, and my fist lashed out. The swing crashed into it's face, and I triggered the pyromancy flame. The blast ripped the head of the dark undead to shreds and horribly seared my hand. It did what it was suppose to though, and I whirled around.

The two I had dropped stopped coming back together, but the third still stood. It was moving much slower though, and more clumsily. Like a puppet that still tried to move after its strings were cut.

I deflected its next swing and lashed out with the same arm, sending it to the same blackened fate as its fellows.

Uncorking my flask painfully, I made a note to have spend more time on the actual fire part of pyromancy; regardless of my previous opinion of just using self actualization spells. It probably wouldn't be as useful elsewhere as here, but honestly I couldn't afford to be wrecking myself like this.

Hands mended, I inspected my armor to see the damage. The plates on the upper arm had been bent and blackened, and I could feel the unpleasant amount of heat still radiating of the steel. Judging from the pain, and itching, the bolt of flame had cooked my arm in my armor pretty good. The Estus seemed to be doing its work though, and i assumed that the itching was my flesh mending and healing.

Honestly, if I ever needed a reason to not let anything hit me with a fully realized spell, that was it. You had a point Petrus, I'll give you that. I'll never tell you to your face, but I will concede the point.

I knelt down over the corpse of the necromancer, and made a point of searching the body. Estus flask? Yes, and pocketed. Lantern? Check, though I'd never use it myself for fear of making myself a target in the dark. It had a bit of silver filigree that I tucked away too. Physical objects weren't as valuable here, but maybe I could find a use for it, or find someone who would want it.

After my looting, I picked up my crossbow and started to head back to the entrance. That was more then enough fun on my own for one day.

I began to realize just how far I had strayed. Strange how time flies when you're poking around getting the lay of the land. And fighting insane undead abominations. Still, the return back to the rest of the group was thankfully uneventful, despite feeling as though I was being watched the whole time.

As I approach the entrance, I caught bits of conversation.

"But, there are hollows that still-"

I crept in closer so i could hear better, but still made sure to keep enough distance I wouldn't be noticed. Something was afoot and while I was _pretty_ sure that it was open info, sometimes it was better to just eavesdrop.

Petrus spoke, "You are still young Vince. Every undead has died at least once. Some can take several deaths before they even begin to go insane. A noticeable portion do not ever become violent." He sighed, "The 'sane hollows' are simply those who have found a long term coping mechanism,and don't value humanity as much anymore."

Wait. What?

"That is not... entirely true." Oscar said softly, "A lack of humanity will cause the form to become that which we call hollow. It can deaden all but most powerful emotions. It can make it difficult to empathize with others. Often, it will cause a great desire replenish it, simply because it feels terrible. The hollowed state of body can fog the mind, but will not drive it mad... Indeed, it is not wrong to say that while death is traumatic, and can eventually cause one to go mad, it would be more accurate to say that in many cases death is another straw on our load."

My blood ran cold.

Petrus spoke, "you sound like you are speaking from experience."

"I've watched a lot of men go hollow."

He lied.

"But, if it isn't death that causes madness," Reah asked, "Then why are most of the insane, Hollow?"

There was a fairly long silence, before I heard Oscars voice again, "You would be putting the cart before the horse milady. The mad stop caring about their own safety, and quickly die."

Why would he lie?

"Indeed, after a certain point, all they crave is bless'd demise, so that they might be able to escape the world for just a little bit longer."

"Then why, Mi'lord" Petrus spoke, "Did you tell your companion otherwise."

"Because maybe if he believes himself to be unique, it will help him keep hope."

Melancholy settled around me like a choking miasma. I tuned out everything else they said. none of it mattered more then what i had dumped on my plate.

Keeping me in the dark was a kindness? Throwing me to the abyss without telling me that I'm not truly immune? I am just like every other Undead. Doomed to eventually go mad with despair. Trapped in a land that wants nothing more then my eternal suffering. With nothing I can do about it?

Except, I'm not like the others. I know about everything. The memories are faded, possibly inaccurate, but I have them. I know more about the whole picture then anyone else other then the primordial serpents.

Further more, I don't even originate from here, and my endgame is simply getting home. I got here, so obviously, there is a path. I just need to find it.

So the question is, what does this knowledge change? It lets me know that Oscar and Petrus are somewhat closer then I had thought, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It tells me that Oscar is actually pretty good at deception. Everything else was supposition. I didn't know if kindness was his real reason, and while the lie was something of a betrayal, i was keeping my own secrets, and bag of lies.

Ultimately, not being special for an undead meant nothing.

Now, what do _I_ change.

Everything I want too. I can do anything if I throw myself at the problem enough times. And right now, I want the damn Art of Kindling. I want the Clerics to stay fine. I wan-

A black gauntlet clamped around my face, and the last sound I heard was the snapping of my own neck


	6. Aftermath

Still don't own Dark Souls. Non profit work of a fan and all that.

A/N; IT LIVES. Sorta. Tend to write piecemeal and post the pieces elsewhere for review. Finished chapters posted here when that happens which can take a while as you all have _probably_ already noticed.

But yeah. Just because you don't see anything for a while doesn't mean that its dead.

* * *

><p><strong>The spark burned and writhed.<strong>

**Wrong.**

**It struggled and flickered.**

**Wrong.**

**This was not the bleak place of rest, nor was it its place of purpose.**

**Now a pale shadow of sentience, the spark struggled to find its way back to the place it was needed, yet it was bound by something.**

**A skeletal hand rose, almost nonchalantly, and caged the spark.**

"_**Abomination. Dark spawn. Mockery of all that I am and rule. Aberration."**_

**The Spark quivered beneath the power of the lord soul... yet was not destroyed.**

"_**Thou dost continue to exist only at my pleasure... and my requirement."**_

**A tendril of flame flicked from the old bones to the spark.**

"_**Thou shalt destroy the traitor."**_

**The Spark struggled.**

"_**Thou shalt return here in flesh."**_

**The bone cage released the soul, and it vanished.**

"_**Thou shalt be my sword where I canst strike. My hands where I canst touch. Thou shalt serve my purpose or be destroyed."**_

**And the aberration lived once more.**

*^*  
>I sat with my back against the wall as I tried to process what i had woken up to.<p>

"What happened. More detail, less feelings if possible"

Felt so dea- _Empty_. Just like the first time. There was one difference however. Rather then the majority of my hunger being directed at Reah and her rivers of humanity it was directed at Oscar and Petrus for some reason... and someplace down far below. Don't know why right now. Hard to think. This time though, I had my weapon against it. Bach's Air was the song of choice for the moment.

Vince obliged, slightly pale and eyes rather red. "First thing was a flash of light, a huge noise not unlike a crack of thunder, and the wall started to collapse."

I glanced over to the rubble blocking our exit. I wasn't the best judge of that sort of stuff, but it seemed to me that it would take a really long time to dig through, if it was even possible without causing another cave in.

"Then, while we fled the boulders, we were ambushed by... Something. It was huge, shaped like a man, but half again the size, and blacker then the abyss." He shuddered, "A pale light emanated from its head and joints. and it was _so fast_..."

The only thing that I could think of that might fit that description would be a black knight. But that doesn't make any sense considering that the Knights didn't-

Wait.

Images started flooding back. Silvered armor, bolts of light cast at ancient drago-

_OhshittheKnightscanuselightningspear_.

Ok, ok. Breath. This is bad, but not entirely...

Nico had stopped talking, and was looking at me warily.

I clamped down on the fear and depression. Those weren't going to help right now. "It's fine Vince. I have a better appreciation for what the creature is that's all." I took my own advice, and took a deep breath. "Please continue."

The other man nodded, "It-it lashed out at Sir Petrus with an axe bigger then any man and..." the other undead started trailing off, though he did gesture over to where Reah was leaning over the cleric.

"... He's not dead yet." I'd seen the havoc wreaked on the two more experienced knights in out party. Oscar was slightly better off, with a concussion and who knew how many internal injuries. "And frankly, I think that your lady will keep him that way."

Vince took a deep breath, then let it go, himself, "Lord Oscar was slammed into the wall by a shield. Then we realized that we were under attack. We rallied and myself and Nico rushed the monster." He looked reluctant to continue.

I can't say I was terribly surprised. I can't say I really saw this going well if the knight wrecked both Oscar and Petrus before they could react. Still, though i more or less had the gist of what happened, i needed to hear it confirmed. Thus i inclined my head for him to continue.

"I drove towards it first," the cleric swallowed, and his voice began to break, "I deflected a swing from that horrible axe, but was driven back... Nico..." He began tearing up again, "Nico, he-"

"That is when the Knight... took Nico." I finished for him.

"_Bent him over backwards and broke his spine!_" He half wailed half yelled. "_Then... Then..._"

The tears started falling openly.

I just waited, inwardly cursing. I knew i should be more empathetic, but right now...

There were several emotional responses I could be having right now. The most human was probably 'all of the above'. Currently for me, depression and self loathing was the order of the day. I should have warned them that something like this was coming. I should have been more observant. I should-

_NO._

_Stop_. Focus. _Nothing good comes from going own that path_.

Nico got a hold of himself enough to continue after a few minutes. "Milady started whispering one of the stories of the gods, and the creature fled... Took Nico, as you said."

Bastard was watching us the whole time. Figuring out the strong points of our party, finding our weaknesses. Waiting for a chance. Why it didn't go right for Reah I'll probably never be able to guess, though it may not have had the time.

"I found you soon after, and restored your humanity once you began stirring. Reah started healing Lord Oscar and Petrus in the immediate aftermath. It is taking quite some time for the worst of the wounds to mend." Vince glanced over towards the girl. "But she'll manage."

"I know that was hard Vince." The words sounded empty, but he took them anyway. "But now I have a better idea of what we are up against."

That was not to say I had any idea on how to deal with it, but baby steps.

I glanced over at where Reah was kneeling by the knights, and wondered just how long It was going to take. I wasn't exactly eager to get going of course, but right it was me and Vince for fighting anything that decided to come knocking. I was also less than cheerful about our chances against anything resembling a cohesive attack. All it would take was a couple of necromancers, and a significant number of skeletons to bar our way and-

_Nope_. _Don't want to go there._

I turned my attention towards other issues. Like why something like a Black Knight would want to grab a member of our party, and moreover, why would it grab Nico in the middle of a fight when it could have grabbed me considerably easier?

_Not that I'm complaining about the lack of attention of course._

The only thing I could think of was that it was something significant about Nico, or something that he was carrying. I racked my brain, and couldn't think of anything. I also dropped the idea of pressuring Vince, seeing as how he was having a rough time dealing with this and I wanted him semi-functional. This left me few options, and I didn't particularly like any of them.

Reah might know something, but I really didn't want to reduce our white mage to a weeping wreck by retreading over painful ground the way I did Vince. It also occurred to me that perhaps the reason that the healing was taking so long was because of how shaken the poor girl was, so any plan that involved disturbing her further was probably a bad plan.

Oscar probably wouldn't know much more than I did, so beyond getting a different perspective probably wouldn't do me much good. Also, wasn't terribly keen on dealing with him right now, seeing as I'm a massive hypocrite and don't appreciate being misled whatever then intentions behind it. The details were fuzzy considering how close it was to my… nap, but I still had the general idea.

Which left me with Petrus. He would know pretty much anything I'd care to know about the clerical party, I didn't give a damn about his feelings seeing as how I didn't like the guy, and he'd be hardened enough that he could deal with going over painful stuff if it was relevant. Unfortunately, he was suffering from a case of '_being-hit-with-a-huge-axe-itis_' and I didn't know how long he was going to take to get to a state where he'd be feeling talkative.

Which put me back to square one. _Awesome_.

I closed my eyes and struggled to remember a more upbeat tune. Something to take my mind off the current situation, and my peculiar hunger.

_Hunger._

My eyes shot open. Right now, it was pulling me towards Oscar, Petrus, and something down far below. I could point out exactly where it was pulling me in a straight line. Focusing on it now, the hunger towards the thing below was much greater than what was directed at my party members, despite the proximity difference. It wasn't there before I died again, so it must be something new, or an instinct connected with a lack of humanity, or something.

I could only think of two things that could be drawing me so strongly. The first was Nito, and for some reason I didn't think that the ancient lord was it. The second was the Pinwheel -and frankly I didn't know why I made that jump- and that one felt more -accurate- for lack of better word to boot.

I frowned to myself. I'd made logic jumps in the past, but this particular one had me wondering about it. It was almost too easy to make that connection and so little reason for it. Like someone planted the idea in my head. It got me paranoid, not that it was a particularly difficult thing to do. I knew that there was a change in mental state based off humanity, but now I was wondering if I wasn't being led on someone else's agenda.

Still, I reflected to myself as I looked at the pile of debris blocking the way out, it's not like I have a choice in the matter.

Filing all that away for later, I made my way over to our wounded. Introspection and trying to figure things out was all well and good, but I had too few of the puzzle pieces for that to be doing anything for me at the moment. I needed answers, and I'd get those from Petrus, or deeper in the catacombs.

Like it or not, I needed those answers as soon as possible. I just hoped that Reah had mended him enough to talk.

"I need to talk to Petrus, Vince. I suspect that Reah will need a bit of comfort while I go about it." I stood and walked over to where Reah was working, leaving Vince bobbing his head.

Truthfully, I suspected that the girl needed less comfort then he did. Both were clearly hurting though, so giving them time to have a good cry would probably do them both good down the line.

"How is he doing"

Reah flinched at the abrupt sound of my voice, leading me to think that she was so into the healing that she didn't hear me walk up.

"Better" she replied, "but still not up for continuing right now."

I nodded, expecting as much, "Would he be up for answering a few questions though?"

Reah bit her lip as she hesitated, yet it was Petrus himself who answered. "Yes." He coughed a few times, and Reah redoubled the healing in alarm. The church knight chuckled darkly, "Oh be still girl. If I haven't died yet, I probably won't. It will take far more then an axe in the chest to put down a clerical knight."

I touched Reah's shoulder gently, "Vince is having something of a bad time m'lady, perhaps he could use a type of healing that you could provide that the gods can't."

The girl finally turned to look at me, and from how red her eyes were, I suspected that she needed comfort as much as Vince did. "B-but, the wound..."

"Last I checked, Petrus is a cleric too" I pointed out gently, "I'm pretty sure that the god's would be just as willing to listen to his plea."

Reah looked pretty wretched. Her hands and garb were bloodstained, and eyes puffy. The way she was swaying slightly also led me to believe that it was less the god's strength powering her miracles then her own strength of will. Regardless of what she might believe. I filed that observation away too- the metaphysics of how miracles work might be significant to me in the long run, but right now was not the time to dwell on them.

Nevertheless Reah still didn't move until Petrus summoned up his own soothing gold light, and once she did, it was with a great deal of trepidation.

I waited until she had left general earshot to go have a good cry with Vince. Hell, I probably needed a good cry, but right now I was feeling too... empty for more then a blank expression.

I turned my attention to my objective. Noting to myself that beating around the bush was something I was kind of bad at, and the best way to get things done in the shortest possible time was the 'blunt' method.

"Do you know why the Black Bastard took Nico, Petrus?" I tried to kept any trace of accusation out of my voice since I knew the cleric had nothing to do with it, but the implication was there regardless.

Petrus bristled, "Are you-"

I cut him off, "No. It's pretty clear that you had no idea this would happen." I took a deep breath, "but nevertheless, it's pretty obvious that it went for Nico in particular. And if it did, you would be the person to ask."

The wounded man frowned, "State your reasoning." he said slowly.

"If all the thing wanted was a rapidly cooling body, mine was available for considerably less effort." I said bluntly, still not entirely comfortable with the thought, "So given that, there must have been something significant about Nico, or something that he had on him. Maybe some piece of equipment?"

"I see..." The other man went silent as he wracked his brain before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but i can't think of... anything..." I noticed his gaze slide past me to where Reah and Vince were holding each other.

"You just thought of something I missed." I noted, a spike of satisfaction running through me, "Let's hear it."

Petrus glared at me again, "It's clear to anyone with eyes or a soul." I frowned at the less then subtle ad-hominem attack, but let him continue, "It is using Nico to inflict wounds on our hearts and minds."

I nodded slowly. It was trying to break the group emotionally. Made sense. The only one that would have been affected at all by taking me would have been Oscar and I'm pretty sure he'd get over it pretty quickly.

The realization sent a dull pang though me, but I really couldn't feel surprised. Exept for the resident of firelink, no-one in this world would know i had ever existed. Chances were good that no-one except Oscar would care. I also privately expected should I go completely hollow, he probably wouldn't be chewed up by it for terribly long either.

NO. Bad me, stop going down the horrible path.

Regardless, it did put a new perspective on things. And if i had a best guess, I'd say that now that it had Nico, it would use and abuse that form of attack ruthlessly.

Glancing back at the younger clerics I sighed, "I think it would be best if myself and Oscar took point. If killing Nico and taking him away had this kind of effect, I dread what's going to happen when the Knight leaves him for us have back."

It took another couple of hours for Petrus and Oscar to be healed enough to continue, and Reah to rally from the costs of doing so. During this time, I made sure to go over everything I still hazily remembered about the catacombs and attempt to apply it to my current really world issue.

Honestly, there really wasn't much to cover. Necromancers brought back skeletons, traps would be fairly plentiful. Keep an eye on the bridges, some of them might move. Patches may or may not be here, and if he was, would need to be either watched like a hawk, or permanently dealt with. Ghostly skulls may or may not explode, though the former struck me as more likely.

I really couldn't rely on the geography that was in the game, but perhaps generalities could be helpful. It was likely for example that the Pinwheel was the necromancer leader, and probably had the rite of kindling close by him. It was also likely, that he would be near the bottom.

My new-found hunger supported that last statement. That still bothered me, but hey, if its another bolt in my quiver, I'll exploit it ruthlessly.

That left the Black Knight as the last known unknown. Unfortunately, more was unknown then known. It wasn't going to hit us directly if it could help it, but it was beastly enough of a combatant that it could conceivably do so and win. It was also smart enough to hit us emotionally to keep us off balance.

Frankly, it wasn't much, but it was more then I had walking into this.

"It appears that your premonition was again correct." Oscars voice broke me out of my inner diatribe.

I snorted, "You think? Dark holes in the ground will pretty much always hide nastier things that what you would expect." I was still sore about earlier, but now that I had a bit more time to stew on it, he had never really lied to me per say. He let me make false assumptions, which was honestly my fault not his, however intentional it might have been.

I'd find some way of making him pay for that of course, no doubt in some petty way that would make him feel like an idiot. Now was not the time for it however.

"Indeed." Oscar nodded gingerly. Clearly his head was still giving him little grief, "A lesson I will not soon forget." He paused, "What do you think our next course of action should be?"

"..." that was a good question. We should still technically be more then a match for anything we might find down here, other then maybe the Knight. On the other hand, Petrus and Oscar were still not quite at a hundred percent, Reah was going to be pretty raw even with a fair bit of rest, and both her and Vince were going to be hurting emotionally.

I frankly couldn't even call myself an asset here, seeing how useless I am against everything but the necromancers themselves.

On the third, uncomfortably severed hand, our way out has been blocked.

"Gut feeling says we bail." I said simply. Well, not entirely truthful. Gut feeling said I should probably go murder the Pinwheel and devour its precious life energies, but I still wasn't sure how much of that was actually me.

Oscar stiffened. It no doubt chaffed that I would suggest running after we had lost a comrade. Not to mention any knightly honour that would be compromised.

Not that I cared in the slightest.

"Stop that." I chided, "Think about it. We lost Nico. We have no idea on what we are walking into. Half of our party is a wreck, the other half is injured. Frankly, a retreat is pretty much the only thing that makes sense. Or would be if we had the option of backtracking."

The Astoran looked at the rubble, "That is a point. Several points." he admitted. "But given that retreat is not an option..."

I shrugged, "We keep moving. Going down means that we'll probably find things that would rather not be disturbed, but makes it more likely that we'll find what we're looking for, wandering around up top makes it more likely we'll find an exit but won't have much of a shot and finding the rites of kindling." I gave him a level look,

There was an uncomfortable moment where I let him chew on those concepts. I also knew that coming back a second time meant that the Black Knight and the necromancers would have more time to prepare for us, even if it did mean we were more prepared for them. Judging from Oscars expression, he had figured that out himself.

"Also going to note, that I'm not the one in charge of this expedition." I felt the need to add that, more or less so I could wash my hands of any responsibility for our party "That would be either Petrus or Reah."

"Of course." Oscar said and turned towards where the clerics were hing there own little council. "I will let them know of your assessment."

I already knew what the answer was going to be.


	7. Deaths Domain Part Two

A/N: Yes, Yes, I know. About time I got around to updating here. Fairly generous sized chapter this time.

Regardless, this is -still- not dead. Watch it twitch.

B.W.E. Is a fan creation, and as such i make no money off of it. I own nothing but the perspective character

* * *

><p>I glared into the darkness across the bridge. Several pair of glowing red sparks glared back. They knew I was here. They knew I knew they were there. Then why weren't they-<p>

I felt someone poke at me. I ignored them.

Why weren't they proceeding across the damn bridge to come for me? I've only been waiting on them for-

"Hey."

It was Vince. I ignored him in favor of spanning my crossbow. The last three shots hadn't encouraged them to come, but maybe number four would-

Vince poked me again, "I have an idea-"

"I swear on your gods Vince, that if you suggest anything involving crossing that kill zone while they have casters up, I'll dump you off the bridge myself."

Needless to say, the decision to continue on had less then my full support, and I might have been feeling slightly surly. So, business as usual. Of course, had anyone else had any sort of plan on how to proceed forward, my mood might have been somewhat sweetened. Instead... well... clerics.

He bristled, "I was going to suggest that we ask for the gods power to protect us while we cross."

I paused, and had to actually put down the crossbow before I did something that I would definitely not regret, but would have Reah very sad, "I'm... I'm going to function under the assumption that you are referring to a miracle here, rather then just... praying." because if he wasn't, he was going to get a one way trip to the lowest floor.

To my relief however, he nodded, "The miracle of Force will protect us, and reflect the fiends assault."

Of all the obvious- "Sure, I had considered that, quite some time ago actually" I told him through gritted teeth, "but I ran into a problem with that strategy. Maybe you could de-bug it for me."

Vince narrowed his eyes, "What would this problem be?"

"So Force stops the first volley. Tell me Nico, what happens when they stagger the spells on the second?"

He opened his mouth, then his brain caught up and he turned slightly pale "Uh... "

"It's more or less the same reason that they haven't come for us, despite me taking potshots at them." I picked up the crossbow again and started to line up another shot, "even at a sprint we wouldn't get across before they got off at least two, possibly three shots each."

To be fair, while we would only get one, one would be all we needed to clear the bridge off. I really was going to need to procure our girl Reah something rather nice as a thank-you slash don't-hurt-me bribe. Maybe chocolates. Or flowers.

I let the bolt fly, and cursed as I heard the sound of metal striking stone.

Maybe a bow, because having a second person with a legitimate ranged option would be really awesome.

"There... Might be merit to Vince's idea." This time it was Reah that spoke.

I took a deep breath and had to remind myself to be patient with them. It wasn't that they were stupid, it was that they just weren't as nasty of a person as I was and so couldn't see the underhanded tactics I could.

On the other hand, Reah seemed to have the best head on her shoulders. She also did Stuff, which was better then the rest of us, save Oscar, could say.

She continued, "Our objective is to go down correct?"

I nodded. For some reason i didn't like where this was going.

"There is a gallery below us, yes?"

I nodded again, "blasting the floor could cause structural damage and by extension a cave in though." best to head of that train of though before she killed us all.

"Oh..." She looked somewhat disappointed. She turned her gaze out the 'window' for a few more seconds, then she nodded herself.

Ok, definitely don't like that.

"Do you trust in the gods?"

No. but how do I tell her that? I thought back to earlier, and silently cursed myself. She gave me her trust, and that was a double edged sword.

Still. I was put on the spot.

"No." The truth came out. "But I might be able to trust you."

The girl closed her eyes. "That might just be enough."

"What do you need me to do?" I asked, already knowing my personal feelings on the matter.

"I need you to vault out of this." She said, tapping that edge of the hole in the wall. She looked me directly in the eye, "And I need you to trust me to catch you when you fall."

Her plan clicked, and my heart rate skyrocketed.

I could see why she wanted me to do it rather then any of the others from a logical perspective. I was probably the most resourceful of us, probably the least likely to crack on another death if she did screw up, and with my crossbow i could divide fire making it more likely for the others to get across the bridge.

The problem was that I also knew that my loss would hurt the least emotionally if it came to that. That... stung. But i couldn't fault her for it.

I also knew that while it wasn't exactly our only chance, it looked to cost us the least amount of resources for the comparatively greatest amount of success.

I think.

I hope.

"What are you planning?" Oscar was starting to look alarmed.

"Something awesome if it works." I said quietly.

Which I was less sure of by the second

"Will it?" Reah asked sounding less then sure of her self.

Way to make me feel confident about my odds girl. "I wont say it won't." Because for my sake, it had better.

The head cleric frowned, "Perhaps you two should elucidate us on what will be happening in the next few minutes?" he made the request sound more like an order.

"Perhaps you should have a little faith." Ok, Oscar said not to antagonize him, but it wasn't Petrus putting his life on the line.

Oscar put a hand on my shoulder, "Faith is best tempered with wisdom, perhaps actually explain-"

Oh how I would like too Oscar.

"Nope" I brushed his hand off, and walked deliberately towards the wall opposite my exit."Got to be now, before I lose my nerve."

"But what are you-"

I kicked off into a run at the 'window'. Reah was next to it and had her talisman in hand, reciting a now familiar passage.

This was an awful idea.

I jumped, one hand on the ledge, and vaulted onto it, then kicked off again with my momentum.

Even if it worked flawlessly, I was probably going to die.

The crevasse expanded out in front of me in a massive gaping abyss. Only, this most defiantly had a bottom, and that bottom would be very hard indeed.

Oh god, I didn't even make a 'look before you leap' joke!

A sphere of light hurled past me, and a redish orange light burned above. I was falling, and I could hear shouting. Panic.

Isn't this the part where your life is suppose to flash before your eyes?

The orb and I were level now due to our trajectories and I saw it ripple. Fire hurled past me. I closed my eyes.

This was going to hurt like hell.

Right on que, I felt as though i had been punched by a freight train. Bones snapped, the air forced from my lungs. The second and third impacts were almost completely dull after the first, but even there I felt my right arm break on the first, and my legs after absorbing the second.

I was dying... but not dead yet.

With my remaining semi-functional arm, I ripped an estus flash from one of my pouches. It took a heroic effort just to get it un-stoppered, then I drank. Pain ripped through me again as rips forced themselves back into position. I coughed out blood. I drank again, deeper this time. My right arm mended, electing another silent whimper. I cracked my eyes open and saw how shredded my left was, it too, began stitching itself together. Another. Flesh mended and shredded and mended again as my legs repaired themselves.

This is quite possibly the -worst- thing that anyone has ever gone through.

I took another for good measure, waiting for more agony to tear through me. Instead, I actually started to feel better.

I looked up in time to see another of Reah's force spheres burst in mid air, reflecting more of the fiery bolts from the necromancers. On the bridge itself was a figure that could only be Oscar, illuminated as it was by that blazing heavenly blade.

I took another swig from the flask. If my prose was getting that flowery, I clearly took some sort of debilitating head wound.

The madness above me did serve to remind me of just why I took my little trip however, and I pulled out the crossbow. A bolt of panic ripped through me as the thought of it getting damaged finally crossed my mind, but sure enough the thing was in tact. The mind truly boggles at just how much punishment this thing could take.

As I knocked the coin and heaved, I resolved to have Reah say a few words for the weapon's previous owner.

I placed the bolt home while picking out my target. From below wasn't exactly the greatest vantage point, and I probably wasn't going to tag anything, yet that was hardly the point. I brought the crossbow up and let loose.

A necromancer flinched as the bolt struck the stone next to it and threw off his aim.

The clerics had caught up to the knight and seemed to occasionally burst with a white light, -I assumed that this was the Force miracle,- that seemed to deflect the burning magic.

I spanned my weapon again, but before i could place another bolt i was forced to dive for cover as one of the dead-raisers above me decided that i needed some attention. You know, not that I minded being ignored given the circumstances.

Cursing, I fumbled out another bolt and placed it. Another burst of magical fire blasted the stone I was hiding behind. I slammed the bolt home, and whirled.

It was a bad angle, but it was all I had. The bow snapped, and the bolt skipped off stone before smashing a lantern. Not what i was going for, but I'll take it.

I ducked back in cover to re-span my weapon. My arm ached from the strain.

Then the screams announced that Oscar had finally finished crossing the bridge.

I held my fire now that friendlies were in my target zone, and simply watched in bemusement as the neigh insurmountable caster problem promptly dissolved once the noble got into sword range.

Also, completely unrelated note; defenestration is hilarious as long as you aren't the subject getting chucked out of a balcony. I think I have my new modus operandi now. If i have a problem, throw a Reah at it. If that don't work, try an Oscar. Hell, if a problem gets bad enough, I might need to use both.

Speaking of... "I believe I have found a flaw in my plan milords" I heard the priestess' voice call over the newly made still. "While it has succeeded in dividing our foes attention, it has also split our party."

What.

Oh.

"Damn it!"

I kicked my brain into high gear. So far all we had seen was skeletons and necromancers. The Blackheart was keeping to itself for now, but given that it was an opportunistic bastard chances were good that was going to change relatively shortly.

"Stay where you are, we will find a way down and across!" Oscar hollered.

Ahahah no.

"Oscar, If you'll remember our tall dark 'friend' for a moment, you should see why staying put would not be in my best interests!"

While staying in place would make it easier to find me, one must also keep in mind that being found is only a good thing if the clerics are the ones to do it.

A slight pause, "Fair point!" Oscar came to the same conclusions, "however if you were to move towards us, it would be fairly easy to set up an ambush!"

And like that, all my paranoia switches come online. Bastard.

"I don't think I like you very much Oscar!"

"Dreadfully sorry about that!" His voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Perhaps we should decide on how best to re-establish our party so that you might express yourself without shouting!"

Of all the things he could pick up off of me, it would be sarcasm.

It was a point though. We had hardly been stealthy in our decent, and Reah's little trick would have highlighted me pretty blatantly for anything that happened to be watching. Plus, you know, this shouting back and forth were probably not doing us any favors in that regard. While I don't think that -all- of the necromancers in this forsaken hole knew where we were exactly, the Black Knight most definitely would.

Or at least, i had to assume so. It was the worst case scenario after all.

...

Second worst case scenario.

"Start finding your way down!" I called, "I'll keep moving slowly, with luck, you all not needing to creep around will let you gain on me."

"I don't like this plan!"

"I don't think I've got a choice in the matter!" Well, I sort of did, but frankly they added up to 'die tired' and 'die terrified'. "The closest thing I think I have to a chance is to have us both move and hope that Tall Boy decides to keep an eye on you guys rather then me!" Of course that just means that I pick both but in a manor that felt a little bit more on my terms.

"Can't chase two hares without losing both!" Oscar noted, "I still don't like it!"

"Just get moving, Oscar!" I groused, "And make enough noise that I can hear you coming!"

"I don't like that plan!" It was Reah this time. Good, maybe if she ends up surviving this, I might be able to corrupt her into becoming a more sensible person.

"You have meat shields, I don't!" Ignoring the shouts of protest, I called up again, "Bye now!"

I stepped though a darkened archway and quieted my breathing as much as possible. The room was a largish mausoleum, filled with stone coffins. I brushed the top of the nearest with a pair of fingers. Really dusty, and a touch comparison with the filigree in my pocket indicated that the place had remained un-looted.

Now, I could think of a couple of reasons for this. Frankly, neither of them pleased me very much.

The first was that the necromancers hadn't gotten this far. Now, if they were normal looters, I'd discount this at once given that delving for the richest treasures would be top priority. Given that the corpses were probably just as valuable if not more so to these particular looters, the upper floors could very well have kept them busy depending on how long they've been camped in here and how many of them there were.

I unsheathed my sword, and called my flamed to the palm of my shield hand..

The other was that something was parked in here for an extended period and the whatever-it-was did not like company. Alternatively, it like company so much that it decided not to let them leave. Neither was something I wanted to share tea with.

I closed my eyes, and concentrated on the hunger. If I was right in my assessment of it, it would draw me towards anything with a strong soul, with special consideration for Pinwheel. Now, depending on how it worked...

My heart rate spiked and my eyes burst open.

Something strong was lurking just ahead of me. It didn't pull on me quite as hard as Oscar, but that's like comparing a steak dinner to a perfectly cooked halibut. I peered into the darkness, and slowly I began to discern a large shape. It was hunched, and seemed to have a sphere, no, a ring floating above its head.

Or a crescent...

Memories burned, and I realized that i had stumbled into the room with the Titanite Demon.

This... brought up an interesting possibility. If the Demon was here, then the coffin to Nito's domain might be here too. Now, Nito was a pretty chill guy in the games, so it might be possible that he'd be willing to help a guy out. Particularly if said guy offered to kill necromancers desecrating his city. If he received aid.

Maybe.

Of course, I also kept in mind that Eyes of Death were required to get into the covenant in game. While I was pretty sure that such things weren't totally necessary, good etiquette would probably get me further then kicking down the metaphorical door.

If the Demon was here, and Nito's coffin was here, and the area had remained pretty much untouched, then I might get lucky and find a couple of Eyes... on the other side of that demon.

I debated my course of action and decided that not getting rag-dolled by the horrible stone slash metal monster was probably in my best interest.

...

Then why, I reflected, were my feet carrying me forward, towards the demon? Oh right, because I'm a greedy bastard, with far too little self preservation instinct. Why though?

I'd seriously need to consider that question later, but for now, delaying my suicide seemed the bigger concern.

What did the demon have in it's repertoire? Bolts of lightning for one, and I had to assume that they would wreck me as badly as any of Reah's miracles. It was massive, and had serious reach with that pole. It had a tail if I could remember right, though I couldn't see it from here. It did have two arms, so grappling could be a thing that would ruin my day.

It was made of stone and metal, so the sword probably wasn't the best thing I could be doing. Fire might be a thing, depending on the melting point of the metals. The hall it was in was cramped, so it's catch pole would hinder it as long as I kept the fight there. I could see that it was missing a leg just as in the game, so mobility would be more limited.

Conclusion? I would have a hell of a time hurting it let alone killing it. So given that, what are my choices?

I could leave, which would be awesome. If, you know, i wasn't such a greedy bastard.

I could try and get around it. Now, it's pretty big, so that will take some doing, but the real trick it what comes after that when it knows I'm there and I may or may not have anywhere to go.

I could lure it out, and try some kind of sneakiness but that would involve me and it sharing a room where it could use that catch pole to it's full effectiveness.

The problem, I reflected, was that I really didn't know anything about what I was up against. I couldn't really formulate a plan. Sure, I knew what it could do in a game, and I could make a few educated guesses

I halted my footsteps with a heroic effort.

Ok, aside from leaving, luring it away seems like the option with the greatest amount of success, given that fighting would end with me as a smear, and getting around it would end with me smeared from behind. Probably.

I knocked back a bolt, and fired at the thing speculatively.

Frankly, with how big a target it was, I was hardly going to miss, and I tensed as the bolt slammed home sticking into it's chest.

And nothing happened.

I knocked another. Maybe it was broke?

Fire. No response.

"Huh." I noted quietly, and started forward again, still cautiously and trying to make as little noise as possible.

Nothing.

My paranoia levels were through the roof at this point.

I finally had closed up with the demon, and what I found was somewhat disturbing.

The demon was covered with the same kind of filigree as the rest of the room. The difference was that these delicate vines seemed to pulse with magic. A bit of further inspection showed that the demon really did want to crush me, it's ore based muscles straining against the mocking cage of filigree.

Something wanted me down here and wasn't about to let this thing kill me.

Dots started connecting.

The filigree had expanded the who city, and was coating this demon. Now, while mundane sources could be behind the stuff on the walls, the demon was an entirely different matter.

The soul hunger was new, only appearing after I had died down here, and it seems to have completely subsumed my hunger for humanity. Or if not subsumed it, made it seem irrelevant by comparison. This indicated something powerful, and probably scary.

The hunger itself was drawing me towards powerful souls yes, but it seemed to be pulling me towards Pinwheel in particular.

Whatever magic put the filigree on the demon wants me in one piece. That suggests that I'm either doing what it wants, or it's made me a pawn somehow. Given that the only notable thing I'm doing here on my own relativity free will is finding the rite of kindling, the same thing that wants me to kill Pinwheel probably is pulling the demons strings.

The Catacombs were Gravelord Nito's domain.

I grimaced. I was being played like a fiddle, and it took me this long to figure out that very little of it was my own idea. I also had a difficult time deciding whether this was 'just as planed' for me as well, or my absolute worst case scenario made manifest.

I put all that out of my mind. I'd been more or less pushed across the Rubicon at this point, so now I had just had to hope my dice didn't roll snake eyes.

Of course, even if they did i had a sneaking suspicion that I would get up again to regret it later.

Confident that the demon wasn't going to crush me this time, I put away my weapons, and trotted down the hall.

I passed several open coffins, all in fairly good repair, and made a note of them. Probably how to have my audience with the Gravelord. Nap in a coffin.

Before too much longer, I'd hit the end of the hallway, and found a small alter with a bag of small calcified 'eyes' to the side of it. They didn't look too much like how i remembered the graphic, but I didn't see anything else that seemed to fit the bill, so i shrugged and started back towards the coffins.

I was just mentally preparing myself to get in when I heard a large crash from down the hall. Sounded far too loud to be Oscar and co. No human voices.

My blood froze, and I leaped into a coffin.

Five seconds. I heard a faint grinding noise of metal on stone.

Ten seconds, another crash, this one sounding different, and also much closer

fifteen seconds, the catch pole came into veiw, and the demons crawled behind it.

It arced its shattered head slowly side to side, and though trying to see or listen. I could see debris falling off of it. I realized with a start that the bits and pieces falling off of it were the filigree.

The demon was no longer my 'friend'.

Twenty five seconds, the demon scraped out of view, and I made a barely audible sigh of relive.

Thirty seconds, just as the coffin started to shut, a black horned helmet loomed in the darkness above, with an axe raised above its head.

As the axe rebounded from the closed lid, again and again, shaking the coffin as the thing from nightmares hewed away at it, I started to scream.

The impacts stopped long before my screaming did, and it was even longer until the coffin lid finally creaked open again.

What it opened to was vastly different however.

Where there was once a stone hallway, there was now a bleak cave. Getting out of the coffin revealed that it was simply laying in the middle of floor, no lift mechanisms, nothing.

I was seriously unsure whether I liked that or not. It also highlighted just how little about magic I knew. Pushing the thoughts aside, I started onward. The Gravelord was waiting, and frankly I wanted to get this over with.

"Abomination."

I halted mid-step.

That voice resounded with a hundred individuals. All ages, all genders, all species and cloaked with the sound of death itself.

This was a terrible idea.

I pivoted on my other heel... and the coffin was gone.

"Darkspawn."

That twisted voice was growing closer, and it did not sound pleased. I gagged on the smell of lingering death. I looked around, frantic. This was not where I wanted to be. This was a terrible place. I needed to run, hide, escape.

"That which should not be."

But there was none to be found. I turned again, unwillingly, to find myself staring into the cloak of terror.

Gravelord Nito. First of the Dead. Lord of the Catacombs, and the Tomb of the Giants.

I couldn't speak. I felt the claws of death wrapped around my soul, and I knew that my fears had been confirmed.

"Thou hast not destroyed the traitor." The grasp was tighter, my sight hazed. "Inability, or lack of opportunity?"

I writhed, for what else could i do? The power of the Gravelord was so immense, it was impossible for me to stand against.

"I shall choose to be charitable."

The pressure eased, and I gasped for breath.

"Speak, Aberration. Tell me why thou hast come to seek audience with the Gravelord."

A million things blazed across my mind. I had forgotten that this was not a meeting between peers. I had something that Nito needed, but that did not mean that I was in a position of any strength. I was also aware, now, that if I turned out to be a... poor investment so to speak, the Lord would snuff me out and find someone else more suitable.

"I require aid."

They were dangerous words, but truthful. I just hoped that admitting my weakness didn't cause this being to fast-track onto a decision to eliminate me.

Nito considered me, flexing a skeletal hand "Elaborate."

So far so good, "My strengths lay in cunning and subversion Gravelord. Yet the task I have at hand has obstacles that can only be vanquished with power."

The dozen skulls nodded slowly.

"Err" Skulls were notoriously difficult to read. "A great spirit, sealed within black armour seeks our demise." The Great lord remained silent, so I took it as him wanting me to continue, "My allies have the strength of arms to vanquish it, yet it is too cunning to confront us directly. I wish to destroy it, that we might complete our quest unassailed."

"The remnant has been a thorn..." Nito noted. "It's destruction would... be favorably received..."

My heart leaped. Did this mean that I'd-

"My reach has... diminished. Which is why thou art required." Nito rasped, "Thou shalt find a way." The tone of the voices told me clear as day that the phrase was an order, not a platitude.

God damn it.

"Do not think... I shall not grant thou aid." The mountainous corpse turned, and gestured for me to follow.

My feet stepped forward despite my inward protests.

"If thou art cunning, then thy greatest weapon is... knowledge." The ancient lord led me to a massive coffin at the back of the cave, "Know first, I would have you succeed."

I remained silent. That really was a comforting bit of information to know, though I couldn't see how it was particularly relevant. It did make me more inclined to take anything I learned here to heart though. If the gravelord thought that what he had to say was worth knowing for my task, then I certainly wasn't going to argue.

"Know second, I would have thee succeed in both the endeavor that brought thee to my domain... and the task I have set out." Nito's arm twitched slightly, gesturing the direction he wished me to follow, "Once the white clerics have claimed what they seek, they shall come to seek no more."

I bobbed my head a little bit, "Would I be correct in my guess that by solving one, I have an opportunity at the other?"

The mound of corpses nodded.

Now, to confirm if my guess about the pinwheels location is correct.

"Where, gravelord would I find the Pinwheel"

Nito halted abruptly.

Crap. Nito had never told anything about the traitor, and 'pinwheel' would be a name based on it's appearance.

"What do you know, Aberration?"

The Gravelord then imposed his will upon me.

Images flash across my mind. Free thought of my own will was impossible, but some primal part of me railed.

The Gravelord picked through my mind, my memories, and my motivations with relative impunity. That primal fragment struggled and fought, yet my pale soul was no match for the only remaining sane lord.

My own mouth told Nito everything. The day to day lives we lived, the wars, the political struggles, the technology. A bare touch to my fragile mind and everything spilt like water. The Gravelord learned of wonders. Automotives, wondrous machines powered by fire and explosion. The internet, a vast, almost living consciousness forged of wire, and data, overseen and cultivated by millions.

I struggled, but the little fragment was simply to weak. The majority recounted everything Nito desired. Not only that, but the majority wanted to recount everything. That veil of power was so terrible, yet wonderful to be a part of.

And so I continued.

The Gravelord learned of Dark Souls. Learned of his own world on a level and a way that he could not have comprehended before now. He learned of Seathe's growing madness, and the depths of the depravity the dragon could achieve. He learned of the hollow Gwyn. The fate of Lady Izilith's kin. He learned of the Pygmy, so small and weak as to be overlooked and forgotten to his own devices, and of my speculation on humanity being the fourth lord soul. The dark soul.

Nito also learned of the differences I had seen. How not all that was in this 'video game' was set in stone in this world. Of how Lordran was a living thing that would punish any who would assume that all was the same as -what the lord now knew- was a pale imitation.

The process took hours.

Then just as suddenly as my will was stripped, Nito released his hold and I collapsed like a puppet whose strings were abruptly cut. Briefly unable to decipher what were my wants and needs and the desires of the god like being I trembled before.

Nito had finally found enough.

I tried to rally, gather up my scattered thoughts, and tried to disassociate myself from how the Gravelord had so easily violated my mind.

I wanted to cry so hard, but all I could do was shake.

"The traitor rests betwixt the catacombs of my servants, and my own domain." The dead king paused, "The... 'Tomb Of the Giants' by thine reckoning."

I nodded numbly.

Nice to know have confirmation that my guess was right I guess, even if the directions on getting there were hazy. If only the price was worth it.

The Great lord wasn't done yet however.

"Thou art dangerous, Aberration. Know there is not a single being in this land that is more so." Nito hissed at me. "It is for that reason that though I -must- destroy thou... I shall not."

I swallowed.

"Though it is impossible to guarantee thine subservience past the completion of my burden, thou art valuable in thine... properties. Thus, the scales tip to thine favour. Thou shalt have the aid... thou requested."

Nito reached out, and grasped me. I suddenly felt fire burn through my being, but that fire brought strength, not agony.

"Return once thou hast completed my task... Return that which I have gifted thee."

The First of the Dead dropped me, and moved to rest in his coffin.

Stillness reigned.

It took me several long minutes to get myself under control again. This was surreal. Also really bad. Also really good. And terrifying, can't forget that either. And traumatizing. As the weakness in my legs wouldn't let me forget.

I set all of that aside with difficulty, finally standing to make my way back to the coffin i knew would be waiting for me again. The important thing was that I was still mostly sane, I think, and now I had a gift from the first of the dead to smooth my way with.

'That went well." I told myself, trying to ignore how thin and weak my voice sounded. "That went well."

* * *

><p>"By the gods man, you look like you've fought a war!" Strange how getting ones mind violated makes the hours feel like months have past.<p>

"Thanks Oscar." I drawled at the other man, "Way to make me feel better."

The hours that I had spent with the lord of the dead had two upshots. The first was that the Black Knight had decided to go away and pursue more productive matters, as opposed to sitting and waiting for me to show up again. The other was that my companions had caught up to me. Passed the mausoleum actually, but only just and it was only the work of a shout and a minute or two to catch up.

It also didn't escape my notice that the Titainite Demon was gone. One more boot to to drop. Joy.

"You all aren't looking terribly fantastic yourselves." I commented, having finally looked them all over.

Oscar seemed the most composed. His eyes were focusing considerably better then they had been before our separation, but now there were dark specters dancing behind them. He seemed tense, but not particularly jumpy, which I took as a good sign.

Reah's eyes were red and puffy, not to mention that her once white and gold robes were now red and soaked through with blood. From the way she moved it didn't seem like she was injured, so I guessed that blood belonged to someone else. Whatever happened though, it was pretty clearly as awful for her as my own... experience was for me. Regardless, she seemed to have worked passed the worst of it now, because she was moving with a purpose she hadn't been before.

The Clerical knights however, were both wrecks.

Petrus was glancing around every couple of seconds, and constantly touching his talisman. His Armour had a few new nicks and scratches, but I couldn't see anything that could account for the level of paranoia that he was displaying.

Vince reeked of the wine that he had brought for their sacraments, though it seemed to me that more of it was covering him than was on his breath. He also seemed strangely listless... almost like whatever vital spark he had before had vanished.

"We..." Oscar glanced over at the rest of their party, as though not sure if it was his place to continue.

Fortunately for him, Reah came to his rescue. "We found... what that thing made Nico into."

Uhm...

I pinched the bridge of my nose."I don't know if I like where this is going."

"You don't." Reah said softly, "It... tortured him. Used the healing arts of Anor Londo to..." Her voice chocked, "What we found was Nico once, but no more. It was just a horror of steel and flesh and agony."

Clearly, the Black Bastard was up to tricks. And just as clearly those tricks had served their purpose of crushing the spirits of the knights, but had inadvertently shoved more steel into our little priestess' spine.

Also, I totally called it.

"Nico is at peace now." Oscar said softly, "We used the wine to help burn the remains. Your flame would have made the process... easier for all involved, but Vince insisted that we needed to do it then."

He was just one death away from joining the ranks of the mindless hollows. It broke him, I realized. Vince was gone, following Nico to the endless black. It was only a matter of time until he just faded away.

But not yet.

While Vince was clearly not all there, he also stood firm. All but hollow, but for his devotion to his lady. That alone kept him here, even if it was just for a little bit longer. I could only marvel, and respect him for that. He would see this one last task through.

Petrus on the other hand, was now a liability. I didn't know what was crawling around in his head to do this to him, but i knew that just as surly as Vince would hold until we were through, Petrus would break and run at the earliest opportunity. A distant memory of the game crossed my mind, and I resolved to keep a particularly sharp eye on him.

It was sobering. I was tempted to press on for details of what exactly happened there, but this was neither the time, or place.

Of course, getting to that time and place meant getting out of this mass grave.

"Lets get moving." I said firmly. "I have information. What we're looking for is at the bottom."

I had the groups full attention now.

"It's guarded by a being that is more or less the patron of the necromancers defiling these halls" I continued, "And the Pinwheel probably won't give it up easily..."

I gave a deaths head smile

"But given that we have the Gravelord's blessing in this endeavor, I think we'll do alright."

And the power that Nito loaned me danced imperceptibly between my fingers.


End file.
